Ari Emanuel Explains Why He Believes Blake Lively Instead of Justin Baldoni – Hollywood Reporter
Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterSubscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterThe Endeavor CEO on why he’s “ride or die” for Lively and Ryan Reynolds in their legal battle with the ‘It Ends With Us’ director.
By
James Hibberd
Writer-at-Large
Power broker and star agent Ari Emanuel is “ride or die” for Team Lively.
The Endeavor CEO is breaking down why he supports Blake Lively in her legal and reputational battle against her It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni.
Emanuel was asked about the clash by Stephen Dubner at the Freakonomics Radio Live show Thursday night at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.
“It is a fucked up, bad situation with what Bologna … Baldoni … whatever his name is … is doing,” Emanuel said.
Related Stories
Business
Why Ari Emanuel Is Team Elon Musk in the Fight for OpenAI
Business
Justin Baldoni’s Alleged Fixer Is Fighting Back. Who Is He?
Dubner pointed out that Baldoni was previously a client of Emanuel’s WME agency (where Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds are still represented).
“Until I fired him,” Emanuel said. “It’s not really fair. I’ve known Ryan and Blake for over a decade. They’re really incredible people. In Hollywood, they have been incredibly successful. People work with them, they’ve never had any bad mojo out there or treated people badly. They are charitable — we help them with their foundation — they’ve given tons of money away.”
Continued Emanuel: “If what is alleged in her lawsuit [and] what happened on social media [in terms of Baldoni allegedly planting negative stories about the actress] is true, just because she complained to the studio that things were unhealthy on the set, and that he was director and this man [Jamey Heath] was the producer, and they did to her what is being alleged, they’re really bad people. I know Blake, I know Ryan, they’re good people.”
Baldoni’s team has claimed Lively’s negative press and social media backlash during the It Ends With Us publicity campaign was due to her own actions, and that they never successfully planted any stories.
Continued Emanuel: “Social media is a really good thing at times because it lets people, stars, connect with their fans, but [Baldoni and Heath] used it in an evil way — if that’s true. We just have to be cognizant that it [social media] can ruin people and they should no longer be out there intimidating people using social media now and trying to hurt them and abusing … them. [Baldoni’s team] should just stop, since they think they’re innocent, and let the process play itself out.
“[Lively and Reynolds] are good people that have been in the business for decades, and have never had any bad press about them, and all the people they work with like them,” he added. “So if it’s true what they’re saying in that allegation, these are two bad guys.”
Baldoni supporters would certainly push back on this one, as Lively has had some negative press before her experience on It Ends With Us.
Emanuel also waded into Lively’s alleging a lack of intimacy coordinators. Baldoni has countered that he hired an intimacy coordinator, but that Lively refused to meet with her beforehand.
“They didn’t have [an intimacy coordinator] and then they went after [Lively] on social media, it’s disgusting,” he said. “She felt that she was not being protected. She complained, and then these people tried to go after her. They should stop. They’re still trying to do it, they should stop. I am a ride or die [for Lively and Reynolds]. And they are good people.”
On Friday, Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, emailed a response to Emanuel’s comments: “Mr. Ari Emanuel is notably one of the best agents, and clearly the most loyal, in Hollywood. As I understand it, Justin hasn’t been called ‘Bologna’ since the fifth grade. Perhaps Ari’s perspective would be different if they had ever met in the half decade they were clients of his agency.”
WME dropped Baldoni as a client in December after Lively filed her complaint against Baldoni accusing him of sexual harassment and using a crisis management company to create a smear campaign against the actress.
Baldoni has also contended that Reynolds pressured WME to dump Baldoni at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere, which the agency has pushed back on, saying in a statement, “In Baldoni’s filing, there is a claim that Reynolds pressured Baldoni’s agent at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere. This is not true. Baldoni’s former representative was not at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere nor was there any pressure from Reynolds or Lively at any time to drop Baldoni as a client.”
Lively and Baldoni have each filed lawsuits against the other, and a trial is expected to begin next year.Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every daySign up for THR news straight to your inbox every daySubscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterSend us a tip using our anonymous form.
