Justin Baldoni, the actor accused of sexually harassing Blake Lively, has been stripped of an award he received just two weeks ago for his apparent support of women and girls. On Dec. 9, Vital Voices, a global non-profit focused on female empowerment, awarded Baldoni the Voices of Solidarity Award, which "honors remarkable men who have shown courage and compassion in advocating on behalf of women and girls." On Monday, after Lively filed a lawsuit against her It Ends With Us co-star, the nonprofit said it had rescinded the honor due to the "abhorrent conduct" alleged, per the BBC.
Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and hiring a crisis public relations team to destroy her reputation. "The communications among Mr. Baldoni and his publicists in the lawsuit—and the PR effort they indicate—are, alone, contrary to the values of Vital Voices and the spirit of the Award," Vital Voices said on Instagram, per US Weekly. Baldoni had posted about the award on social media, saying he was "deeply honored and humbled" to receive it and hoped to teach boys "that vulnerability is strength, sensitivity is a super power, and empathy makes them powerful."
Baldoni's lawyers describe the allegations as "categorically false," adding the crisis manager was hired because Lively made demands that threatened to derail film production. A filing to the California Civil Rights Department indicates Lively made 30 requests—including for an end to discussions of Baldoni's pornography addiction—at a January meeting in which she alleged "repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior" by Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath. Her suit notes the "concerns she raised were not only for herself, but for the other female cast and crew, some of whom had also spoken up," per US Weekly. (Baldoni just lost his podcast co-host, too.)
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