Justin Baldoni faces backlash as Vital Voices revokes advocacy award amid Blake Lively’s lawsuit

Justin Baldoni’s award for “advocating on behalf of women and girls” was revoked after Blake Lively's legal complaint.

Justin Baldoni’s award for “advocating on behalf of women and girls” has been revoked following Blake Lively’s legal complaint against him, his team, and Wayfarer Studios.  

On December 9, the It Ends With Us director and actor received the Voices of Solidarity Award from Vital Voices. The accolade honors “remarkable men who have shown courage and compassion in advocating on behalf of women and girls.”  

After becoming aware of Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni, his publicists, and others at Wayfarer Studios for what she described as “disturbing” and “abhorrent conduct,” the organization decided to revoke the award.  

“The communications among Mr. Baldoni and his publicists included in the lawsuit — and the PR effort they indicate — are, alone, contrary to the values of Vital Voices and the spirit of the Award. We have notified Mr. Baldoni that we have rescinded this award.”  

The film It Ends With Us was distributed by Sony Pictures. Following the filing of the complaint, a spokesperson for the company told The Hollywood Reporter: “We have previously expressed our support for Blake in connection with her work on and for the film. We fully and firmly reiterate that support today. Further, we strongly condemn any reputational attacks on her. Any such attacks have no place in our business or in a civil society.”  

In a separate statement, SAG-AFTRA voiced support for Lively following her decision to take legal action against Baldoni and his team.  

“These are startling and troubling allegations. Employees have every right to raise issues of concern or to file complaints. Retaliation for reporting misconduct or inappropriate behavior is illegal and wrong,” the guild said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “We applaud Blake Lively’s courage in speaking out on issues of retaliation and harassment and for her request to have an intimacy coordinator for all scenes with nudity or sexual content. This is an important step that helps ensure a safe set. We all have a right to be treated with dignity and respect on the job and to work in an environment free of harassment, discrimination and retaliation. We urge anyone who may be experiencing abusive conduct to report such violations on our SAG-AFTRA Safe Place app and to their employer.”