WME fires back at claim Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds pressured agency to drop Justin Baldoni

nypost.com:

WME dropped Baldoni, 40, as a client in December after Blake Lively filed a complaint against her “It Ends With Us” co-star, accusing him of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her.Baldoni has since filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times for publishing the article with Lively’s accusations.In his own 87-page complaint, the director alleged that Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, pressured WME to drop Baldoni at the “Deadpool & Wolverine” premiere in July 2024.However, the agency denied the accusations in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. “In Baldoni’s filing, there is a claim that Reynolds pressured Baldoni’s agent at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere.

This is not true,” WME said. “Baldoni’s former representative was not at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere nor was there any pressure from Reynolds or Lively at any time to drop Baldoni as a client,” the statement added.The talent agency made the decision to drop Baldoni on Dec.

21 — just hours after the Times published the 4,000-word piece titled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” which outlined Lively’s first complaint against her co-star.

Lively, 37, and Reynolds, 48, continue to be represented by WME.In his lawsuit, Baldoni accused the Times of promissory fraud and breach of implied-in-fact contract.