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Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, and the Failure of the #MeToo Era

Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, and the Failure of the #MeToo Era

During the promotional tour for the movie "It Ends With Us," something was amiss between the leads Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively. First, Baldoni and Lively were practically never seen together. It was clear that something had happened on set, and signs indicated that most of the cast was supportive of Lively. But as fans watched videos of Lively promoting the movie, public opinion began to turn against her. The interviews featured laughter and jokes, which seemed tactless, considering the movie was about domestic violence.


In late December, Megan Twohey, Mike McIntire and Julie Tate published an article in the New York Times. The story revealed the abuse Lively allegedly experienced on set by Baldoni and Jamey Heath, the film's executive producer. Lively accuses Baldoni and the film's producers of inappropriate behavior and mistreatment on the job and other questionable situations. Baldoni, meanwhile, has denied the allegations and filed a defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, claiming the story was fabricated to harm her.

Twohey is known as a key architect of the contemporary #MeToo narrative. In 2018, she won a Pulitzer, along with Jodi Kantor and Ronan Farrow, for her reporting on Harvey Weinstein's history of abuse and violence. It was the start of a movement, fueled by women's voices.

At a time when the #MeToo movement was a major force in Hollywood, Lively and Baldoni’s story shows how narratives and news can be twisted and used for personal or political gain. While much of the industry has supported Lively, many fans and social media commentators have split into two camps, becoming part of a culture war that is more about supporting fans than finding the truth.

“We are no longer in the #MeToo era,” Doreen St. Félix writes for the New Yorker. Stories of harassment and abuse now receive a harsh, cynical reception.” The reporting that flourished in the late 2010s cannot penetrate today’s volatile internet, where information is misinformation and victims are perpetrators. In the online lawsuit of Lively v. Baldoni, the word that keeps popping up is not abuse but “confession.” “What matters is whose story best fits the politics of our time,” St. Félix continues. Felix.