All posts tagged: Blake

Blake Lively to Keep Fighting as Most of Justin Baldoni Case Dismissed

Blake Lively to Keep Fighting as Most of Justin Baldoni Case Dismissed

Published by Daniella Wilson

Blake Lively is speaking out after a judge dismissed the majority of her case against It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman dismissed most claims in Lively’s lawsuit over alleged sexual harassment on the It Ends With Us set, significantly narrowing the scope of the case as it proceeds to a May trial. Liman’s decision drops Lively’s claims of harassment, defamation and conspiracy, meaning the trial will now center on alleged breach of contract and retaliation by Wayfarer and aiding and abetting retaliation by the PR firm working for Baldoni. But Lively is vowing to keep “fighting” and views the decision as still allowing “the heart of [her] case” to proceed. “I will never stop doing my part in fighting to expose the systems and people who seek to harm, shame, silence and retaliate against victims,” she wrote in a statement posted to her Instagram Stories on Friday. She wrote, earlier in the statement, “I’m grateful for the Court’s ruling …

‘Enough of this me me me’: Blake Morrison on memoir in the age of oversharing | Biography books

‘Enough of this me me me’: Blake Morrison on memoir in the age of oversharing | Biography books

Published by Sam Flores

Every day I meet strangers who share intimate details with me. It’s called reading. In a newspaper piece a former sex addict recalls her need for BDSM (“when a sexual partner hurt me, I felt seen”) and how she conquered her dependency. On Substack an actor describes her grief on losing a baby (“After the miscarriage, I became convinced my daughter was backstage. I would push back the costumes on the rack and almost expect to find her”). And then there are the published memoirs, first-person stories of trauma, displacement and heartbreak. It’s not just women who unburden themselves, of course. As Martin Amis says in his memoir, Experience: “We are all writing it or at any rate talking it: the memoir, the apologia, the CV, the cri de coeur.” Recent memoirs have upped the ante, though. What was once a geriatric, self-satisfied genre (politicians, generals and film stars looking back fondly on long careers) is now open to anyone with a story to tell – “nobody memoirs”, the American journalist Lorraine Adams has called …

WME Comes Out in Support of Blake Lively Over “Takedown Campaigns”

WME Comes Out in Support of Blake Lively Over “Takedown Campaigns”

Published by Daniella Wilson

WME, Blake Lively‘s agency that dropped Justin Baldoni hours after she accused him of sexual harassment, is going public on the It Ends With Us legal battle, throwing its weight behind the actress ahead of a trial set to start next month. “In an industry that too often asks women to absorb the damage and stay quiet, Blake Lively chose to stand up for herself, her castmates, and those without the ability to fight back,” the agency said in a statement on Friday. “She has met this moment with courage, moral clarity, and extraordinary determination.” The announcement of support marks a notable turn in a high-profile clash that’s forced some in Hollywood to take sides. The trial will pit conflicting narratives advanced by Lively and Baldoni against each other, with little wiggle room in between. One tells a story of an A-list actress, aided by some of the biggest celebrities in the world who include husband Ryan Reynolds and friend Taylor Swift, plotting to seize control of a director’s passion project. The other is a …

Blake Lively pledges to continue Justin Baldoni lawsuit after harassment setback

Blake Lively pledges to continue Justin Baldoni lawsuit after harassment setback

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Blake Lively has pledged to continue with her high-profile lawsuit against her It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni, even after a judge threw out out most of her claims. The claims dismissed by Judge Lewis Liman included those related to sexual harassment, defamation and conspiracy. In total, three out of Lively’s original 13 claims will proceed to trial. Those relate to breach of contract, retaliation and aiding and abetting in retaliation. In a statement to The Independent, a member of Lively’s legal team, Sigrid McCawley, said: “This case has always been and will remain focused on the devastating retaliation and the extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy Blake Lively’s reputation because she stood up for safety on the set and that is the case that is going to trial. “For Blake Lively, the greatest measure of justice …

Blake Lively’s ‘It Ends With Us’ Case to Go to Trial Without Sexual Harassment Claims

Blake Lively’s ‘It Ends With Us’ Case to Go to Trial Without Sexual Harassment Claims

Published by Daniella Wilson

Justin Baldoni will not have to face most claims in Blake Lively‘s lawsuit over alleged sexual harassment on the set of It Ends With Us. The decision significantly narrows the scope of the case as it marches toward trial. U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman on Thursday dismissed the majority of Lively’s case, including claims for defamation, conspiracy and sexual harassment. Absent a last-minute settlement, the trial will center on allegations of breach of contract, retaliation by Baldoni production company Wayfarer, and aiding and abetting retaliation by the public relations shop hired by the director. Lively is set to testify in the trial, which is scheduled for May. It’ll put clashing narratives advanced by the actress and Baldoni against each other. One tells a story of sexual harassment and retaliation by a filmmaker backed by a billionaire funding a unscrupulous network of public relations professionals. The other is the tale of an A-list actress, aided by some of the biggest celebrities in the world who include husband Ryan Reynolds and friend Taylor Swift, scheming to rip …

Judge dismisses Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claims in lawsuit against Justin Baldoni | Ents & Arts News

Judge dismisses Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claims in lawsuit against Justin Baldoni | Ents & Arts News

Published by Daniella Wilson

A US judge has dismissed Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claims in her lawsuit against co-star Justin Baldoni. The ​decision to throw out most of the claims in the case was made by District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan on Thursday on jurisdictional grounds. Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment in connection with the filming of their 2024 romantic drama It Ends With Us. The 38-year-old actress – who is married to Ryan Reynolds – sued Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios and others, seeking damages for alleged harassment, defamation, invasion of privacy and violations ‌of federal and state civil rights laws. She claimed the defendants created a sexually charged atmosphere during the film’s production and then schemed to silence her from speaking out. The film starred Lively and Baldoni, who was also the director. You need javascript enabled to view this content Enable javascript to share Share Were Blake Lively lawsuits a distraction? Baldoni – who denies any wrongdoing – argued he addressed his co-star’s concerns as soon as she raised them and defended his …

James Blake asks to have his name removed from Kanye West’s new album credits

James Blake asks to have his name removed from Kanye West’s new album credits

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the inside track from Roisin O’Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This James Blake is asking to be removed from the production credits on Kanye West’s latest album. After nearly a two-year rollout, West’s Bully came out Friday, featuring the closing track “This One Here.” The song’s credits include Blake, Don Toliver, Quentin Miller and West as co-writers. However, Blake has now asked to taken out of the credits because “the spirit” of his original work is “mostly absent” in the song. “The way I pitched his vocals and construed the track from his freestyle is partially there, majorly peppered with other newer vocal takes etc.,” the English musician wrote recently on Vault, his streaming platform. “But the spirit of my actual production is mostly absent other than that.” Blake, 37, added: “Happy for the fans but I’ve asked to be taken off the producer credits for now as I don’t want to take credit …

James Blake review, Trying Times – Electronic balladeer finds a way through his frustrations with the music industry

James Blake review, Trying Times – Electronic balladeer finds a way through his frustrations with the music industry

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the inside track from Roisin O’Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This James Blake’s earliest records synthesised the urgent and the languid, the private and the profound. His was an unlikely alchemy: dubstep’s sub-bass parcelled up with gospel-leaning vocals that cracked and soared; twitchy, pitch-shifted R&B samples knocked against stately piano chords; the paranoia of a hostile dancefloor rendered in hymns of alienation. The world would come to him – Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, a Mercury Prize in 2013 – but the music never quite lost its solitary, confessional quality. When Blake first moped into the spotlight in 2009, he helped usher in an era of popular music willing to sit with sadness rather than resolve it, to let it bleed. Trying Times, arriving three years after the electronic reset of Playing Robots Into Heaven, is his seventh album – and arguably his most searching. It is also his first as an independent artist …