Justin Baldoni’s women’s solidarity award rescinded over Blake Lively allegations

nme.com:

Blake Lively filed a lawsuit against him containing allegations of sexual harassment and a smear campaign against her.Baldoni had been presented with the Voices of Solidarity Award earlier this month by Vital Voices, a global non-profit organisation that focuses on empowering women.

It celebrates “remarkable men who have shown courage and compassion in advocating on behalf of women and girls”.The organisation confirmed yesterday (December 23) that it had revoked the award over Baldoni’s alleged behaviour towards Lively on the set of It Ends With Us, which they said was “contrary to [its] values”.Baldoni presented the podcast Man Enough for the last three years, which “explores what it means to be a man today and how rigid gender roles have affected all people.” It was co-hosted by author and journalist Liz Plank and Jamey Heath, CEO of Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios.

Plank has since quit the podcast in the wake of the allegations.At the weekend, Lively sued Baldoni for allegedly causing her “emotional distress” on the set of the recent film, adapted from the book of the same name by Colleen Hoover.

Reports of a rift between the two actors emerged in August, with suggestions that creative differences lay behind the fallout, but now Lively has claimed Baldoni’s behaviour towards her went beyond a mere clash of personalities.The undated complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Department also accused Baldoni of creating a hostile working environment on set, and claimed he had been trying to tarnish Lively’s reputation with a targeted social media campaign.In addition, the suit claims Baldoni sexually harassed Lively on the set of the film.