‘Insulted’ Blake Lively blasts ‘sexist’ The Hollywood Reporter cover lampooning her Justin Baldoni lawsuit: ‘Should be ashamed’

nypost.com:

Feb. 21 issue of the industry bible features a cartoon lampooning Lively’s lawsuit against her “It Ends With Us” co-star, Justin Baldoni.

The image, designed to look like a retro sci-fi movie poster, shows Lively trying to fire a slingshot with a cell phone at Baldoni from behind — a reference to her legal team trying to subpoena text messages from him. “The Hollywood Reporter should be ashamed of itself,” a spokesperson for Lively told The Post on Saturday.“The framing in this picture is outrageously insulting as it plays into every sexist trope about women who dare file a workplace complaint, turning them into the aggressor, and suggesting they deserve the retaliation that comes their way.”The spokesperson also slammed the reporting in the cover story, saying: “In addition, the story is extremely offensive as it incredibly seems to explain away documented examples of sexual harassment and retaliation by calling them ‘cultural misunderstandings.'” Lively sued Baldoni last December, accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of “It Ends With Us” and orchestrating a public smear campaign against her at the time of the film’s release last year.

Baldoni countersued Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, alleging defamation, extortion and more. Both stars have denied the other’s claims.On Wednesday, Lively filed an amended version of her complaint against Baldoni, alleging that she “was not alone in raising allegations of on-set misconduct.”The “Gossip Girl” alum updated her initial lawsuit, with the new 163-page filing providing “significant additional evidence and corroboration of her original claims,” per Lively’s lawyers Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb.