A massive s*xual harassment reckoning happened in Hollywood in the latter part of 2017. The major uproar followed the exposé about famous film producer Harvey Weinstein in the New York Times and The New Yorker. It led to the launch of the Time’s Up movement, aimed towards ending gender imbalance and s*xual harassment across all industries. Around the time, numerous Hollywood celebrities shared their s*xual harassment stories related to Weinstein and others. One among them was Ryan Reynold’s wife Blake Lively.
The Gossip Girl fame actress also shared her opinion on the assault allegation against Woody Allen, her former director.
Blake Lively’s Opinion on Disgraced Director Woody Allen
Director Woody Allen was accused of molesting his seven-year-old daughter. His daughter Dylan Farrow had written an open letter to the New York Times speaking about his hideous crime. As the news spread, numerous actors who worked with the director expressed their disbelief and angst over the matter.
Ryan Reynold‘s wife Blake Lively, who also worked with the director in the movie, Café Society in 2016, had a very different opinion. She shared with Los Angeles Times,
“It’s very dangerous to factor in things you don’t know anything about. I could [only] know my experience. And my experience with Woody is he’s empowering to women.”
Lively’s reaction came as a surprise for many as reportedly the actress herself had once been the victim of s*xual harassment.
Many actors including Kate Winslet, who worked with Allen in Wonder Wheel, decided to not work with him anymore.
Blake Lively recalls being abused by her makeup artist
The Age of Adaline actress shared with Los Angeles Times about the terrifying experience of working with a makeup artist who tried to harass her.
As Lively recalled the scenario, she said,
“He was saying things inappropriately, insisting on putting my lipstick on with his finger.”
“I was sleeping one night on location and I woke up and he was filming me. I was clothed, but it was a very voyeuristic, terrifying thing to do.”
The Green Lantern actress raised the issue with her movie producers, however, they took no action against the make-up artist. The production team later contacted her for a completely different and unrelated issue.
Blake Lively shared,
“After three months of complaining, they called me into my trailer and said, ‘We need to talk to you.’ I thought, ‘Well finally, they’re going to do something about this man who I had to have touching me all day.’ And they said, ‘Your dog left a poop behind the toilet in your dressing room and our janitor had to pick it up. And this is very serious, and we can’t have this happen again.’”
The makeup artist was finally removed from the sets after the actress took up the matter with her lawyers.
The actress will be next seen in the movie adaptation of the popular novel of the same name, It Ends with Us by Coleen Hoover, alongside Justin Baldoni.
Source- Los Angeles Times
