Blake Lively’s ‘It Ends With Us’ Co-Star Brandon Sklenar Speaks out on Justin Baldoni Lawsuit News

Blake Lively is continuing to receive support from her Hollywood counterparts in her sexual misconduct lawsuit against her It Ends With Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni. Apparently, she wasn’t the only cast or crew member subjected to his alleged, ongoing sexual harassment during filming of the box office smash. Her co-star in the film, Brandon Sklenar, who starred as her high school love Atlas, has noted his support publicly. 

The actor reposted the New York Times article that broke the news of Lively’s allegations against Baldoni on his Instagram Story on December 23. He titled the link to the story, “For the Love of God Read This.” He tagged the actress in the post alongside a single red heart emoji.

Lively and Sklenar’s on-screen relationship transitioned into an off-screen friendship. In the film, Lively’s character, Lily, escapes an abusive relationship with Ryle, played by Baldoni, with help from her old flame Atlas. When Lively was under fire from bad press related to her promotion of the film, Sklenar was the first of Lively’s co-stars to come to her defense.

In an Instagram post, he wrote at the time, in part: “I wanted to take a minute and address all this stuff swirling online. Colleen [Hoover] and the women of this cast stand for hope, perseverance, and for women choosing a better life for themselves. Vilifying the women who put so much of their heart and soul into making this film because they believe so strongly in its message seems counterproductive and detracts from what this film is about.”

He added: “It is, in fact, the opposite of the point. What may or may not have happened behind the scenes does not and hopefully should not detract from what our intentions were in making this film. It’s been disheartening to see the amount of negativity being projected online.”

News broke on Saturday, December 21, that Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni accusing him of sexual harassment and of launching a targeted and calculated “social manipulation” campaign against her to “destroy” her reputation in case she opted to speak of her alleged experience with him. Reports of creative differences and beyond were sparked after Lively and Baldoni promoted the film separately. Baldoni has denied the allegations.