RSS
Celebs Line Up to Support Blake Lively’s Sexual Harassment Claims Against Justin Baldoni, Who Has Jewish Roots
Justin Baldoni attends the ‘It Ends With Us’ premiere in New York City, US, Aug. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs
A growing number of celebrities are publicly speaking out against actor and director Justin Baldoni after his “It Ends With Us” costar Blake Lively filed a legal complaint accusing him of sexual harassment and attempts to ruin her reputation.
Baldoni, a former cast member of “Jane the Virgin” who has Jewish heritage but follows the Baha’i faith, has also been dropped by his talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME) in light of Lively’s allegations. The former “Gossip Girl” star, 37, remains a client of the agency.
Baldoni’s mother, Sharon, is from an Ashkenazi Jewish family with roots in Eastern Europe, and his father is Italian. “My mom was Jewish and became a Baha’i before she met my dad, and when they fell in love he became a Baha’i,” the actor told InterfaithFamily.com. “But we celebrated Hanukkah and Christmas, as an ode to our grandparents.”
In the same interview he talked about how his family was impacted by the Holocaust. “My grandfather was in World War II and a lot of my family was killed in the Holocaust,” Baldoni said. “One of my aunts was a survivor.”
First reported by The New York Times, Lively filed a legal, 10-page complaint on Friday with the California Civil Rights Department alleging that her “It Ends With Us” costar and director, 40, engaged in “sexually inappropriate behavior” on the set of the film and initiated “a coordinated effort to destroy her reputation” after she complained about him to the co-producers of the film, which was released in August.
She claimed Baldoni’s public relations team and his production company Wayfarer Studios had a “well-financed retaliation plan” against her. The complaint, a precursor to a lawsuit, stated that they “created, planted, amplified, and boosted content designed to eviscerate” her credibility but also “suppress any negative content” about Baldoni. Lively’s filing includes excerpts from thousands of pages of text messages and emails that she obtained with a subpoena, according to The New York Times.
Among the notable figures who have come to Lively’s defense since she filed her legal complaint on Friday is author Colleen Hoover, who wrote the best-selling novel “It Ends With Us” on which the film is based. The writer posted on her Instagram Story on Saturday a photo of herself and Lively hugging in a crowed theater and wrote in the caption: “@blakelively, you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive, and patient since the day we met. Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.”
In the film “It Ends With Us,” Lively plays a florist named Lily Bloom who faces domestic violence when she becomes romantically involved with Baldoni’s character, a Boston neurosurgeon named Ryle.
Lively’s costars from “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” — America Ferrera, Amber Rose Tamblyn, and Alexis Bledel — released a two-page joint letter in support of her. “As Blake’s friends and sisters for over 20 years, we stand with her in solidarity as she fights back against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation,” they said. “We are struck by the reality that even if a woman is as strong, celebrated, and resourced as our friend Blake, she can face forceful retaliation for daring to ask for a safe working environment. We are inspired by our sister’s courage to stand up for herself and others.”
Actress and comedian Amy Schumer, who is Jewish, wrote a short message on her Instagram Story that read, “I believe Blake.”
Paul Feig, who directed Lively in “A Simple Favor” and its sequel, also voiced his support for the actress. “All I can say is she’s one of the most professional, creative, collaborative, talented, and kind people I’ve ever worked with,” he said in a post on X. “She truly did not deserve any of this smear campaign against her. I think it’s awful she was put through this.”
In her legal complaint, Lively also made claims about “the hostile work environment that had nearly derailed production” of “It Ends With Us.” She accused Baldoni of sexual harassment that including improvised, unwanted kissing; said he discussed “his experiences with pornography” in some conversations; and talked about his sex life with his wife Emily, to whom he has been married since 2013. She claimed Baldoni and “It Ends With Us” producer Jamey Heath used sexually inappropriate language on set and both men repeatedly entered her makeup trailer uninvited while she was undressed, including when she was breastfeeding her baby, the youngest of her four children with her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds. She further accused Baldoni of “intrusively asking” her a question about her sex life with Reynolds while discussing a scene in “It Ends With Us.”
In a statement to The New York Times, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman called Lively’s accusations “completely false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.” He claimed that the actress promoted “negative and completely fabricated and false stories with [the] media” about Baldoni.
“It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions,” Freedman added.
The post Celebs Line Up to Support Blake Lively’s Sexual Harassment Claims Against Justin Baldoni, Who Has Jewish Roots first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials
FILE PHOTO: The atomic symbol and the Iranian flag are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iranian and Iran-affiliated media claimed on Saturday that the Islamic Republic had obtained a trove of “strategic and sensitive” Israeli intelligence materials related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and defense plans.
“Iran’s intelligence apparatus has obtained a vast quantity of strategic and sensitive information and documents belonging to the Zionist regime,” Iran’s state broadcaster said, referring to Israel in the manner accepted in those Muslim or Arab states that don’t recognize its legitimacy. The statement was also relayed by the Lebanese site Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Iran-backed jihadists of Hezbollah.
The reports did not include any details on the documents or how Iran had obtained them.
The intelligence reportedly included “thousands of documents related to that regime’s nuclear plans and facilities,” it added.
According to the reports, “the data haul was extracted during a covert operation and included a vast volume of materials including documents, images, and videos.”
The report comes amid high tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, over which it is in talks with the US administration of President Donald Trump.
Iranian-Israeli tensions reached an all-time high since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, including Iranian rocket fire on Israel and Israeli aerial raids in Iran that devastated much of the regime’s air defenses.
Israel, which regards the prospect of the antisemitic mullah regime obtaining a nuclear weapon as an existential threat, has indicated it could resort to a military strike against Iran’s installations should talks fail to curb uranium enrichment.
The post Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday.
Nattapong Pinta’s body was held by a Palestinian terrorist group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week.
There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreign national. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive.
The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase.
Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US, Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered.
US-BACKED AID GROUP HALTS DISTRIBUTIONS
The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations. It was unclear whether aid had resumed on Saturday.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It says it has provided around 9 million meals so far.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel’s single deadliest day.
The post Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former US officials, a move that would involve the US more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos.
The sources and former US officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the US State Department.
The plan has met resistance from some US officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said.
The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume.
The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs.
The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an “economic interest” in the for-profit US contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF’s aid distribution hubs in the enclave.
While US President Donald Trump’s administration and Israel say they don’t finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it.
The US and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump’s drive to align US foreign policy with his “America First” agenda.
One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency’s dismemberment.
The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF’s operations for 180 days.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sources said that some US officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF’s contractor, and violence nearby.
Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said.
The post US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.