Gwyneth Paltrow and Blake Lively Dimitrios Kambouris/FilmMagic
Gwyneth Paltrow is coming to the support of Blake Lively and her haircare line, Blake Brown.
Following Lively’s sexual harassment allegations against her It Ends With Us costar and director Justin Baldoni, she received public support from figures including Paltrow, 52. Lively’s accusations against Baldoni include unwanted kissing during filming and a campaign to damage her reputation. Baldoni has vehemently denied these claims, calling them “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious.”
Paltrow publicly showed her support for Lively, 37, on the day the complaint was released. In an Instagram Story, she featured Lively’s Blake Brown haircare line on her Christmas wish list, adding a queen emoji to her post.
According to the legal documents obtained by Us Weekly, the effects of Baldoni’s tear down campaign against Lively’s professional life were “immediate and substantial.” This includes Blake Brown, which launched around the same time as It Ends With Us’ theatrical release this summer.
As a result of negative chatter on social media, Lively claimed she felt she could not “proceed with public appearances or events without being forced to openly discuss what happened on set.”
One such incident allegedly included cancelling a “critical” Target corporate event for said haircare company, which she backed out of her scheduled appearance for.
The lawsuit also alleges that the retaliation campaign against Lively resulted in damage to her companies as well, like the launch of Blake Brown, which Lively had spent seven years building up to.
“The long-planned launch of her haircare line, Blake Brown — a date which was set more than a year prior to the date selected,” the documents read, “for the release of the film — was caught up in the crossfires of the negative environment against [Lively].”
Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Sony Pictures Blake Lively has received public support from her famous friends and other Hollywood stars following the news of her lawsuit against Justin Baldoni. Lively sued It Ends With Us director and costar Baldoni for sexual harassment in a lawsuit filed on Friday, December 20. According to court documents, which […]
Prior to when the “social manipulation” campaign was underway, the Gossip Girl actress was informed that Blake Brown was Target’s largest haircare launch on record. And based on internal sales projects the “sudden and unexpected negative media campaign launched” negatively affected retail sales of products by a whopping “56%–78%.”
What’s more, the Instagram account for the brand was allegedly flooded by “harassing and derogatory comments, including many posted by user accounts that had no followers and no prior posts,” which suggested an inauthenticity, according to court papers.