Hasan Minhaj introduced Justin Baldoni as an ally of women before the court

UPDATE 12/23 – 6:00 PM EST: Vital Voices, the organization behind the Solidarity Vital Voices Awards, has decided to cancel the recently awarded awards It ends with us director Justin Baldoni amid his ongoing legal battle with Blake Lively.

“The Voices of Solidarity Award recognizes remarkable men who have demonstrated courage and compassion in advocating for women and girls,” the statement said. Instagram on Monday, December 23 read. “On December 9, 2024, we honored Justin Baldoni with this award. On Saturday, December 21st, we learned through news reports of a disturbing lawsuit filed by Blake Lively against Mr. Baldoni, his publicists and others, alleging heinous behavior. The communications between Mr. Baldoni and his publicists in the lawsuit — and the PR efforts they imply — are themselves inconsistent with the values ​​of Vital Voices and the spirit of the award.”

Vital Voices confirmed in a statement that it had “notified Mr. Baldoni that we have revoked this award.”

Original story below:

Hasan Minhaj honored Justin Baldoni as an ally for women’s rights just a week before the news broke Blake Lively‘s lawsuit against It ends with us director.

The moment between the two men congratulating each other on being women’s allies doesn’t seem to have aged well. Earlier this month, Baldoni, 40, was honored by Minhaj, 39, at the Vital Voices 2024 Solidarity Awards, which according to official siteis “an awards program that recognizes remarkable men who have demonstrated courage and compassion in advocating for women and girls around the world.”

After the Dec. 9 event hosted by the nonprofit Vital Voices, Baldoni wrote via Instagram that he was “deeply honored and humbled” to receive the 2024 Vital Voices Solidarity Award, which is “awarded by my soul brother (Minhaj).

Minhaj played the lead role It ends with us as Marshall alongside Baldoni and Lively, 37.

“Thank you brother for using your brilliant mind to help us all and make us laugh at the same time. Nobody does it better,” Baldoni’s post continued. “Thanks for being a true friend and always showing up – but most importantly when the cameras aren’t rolling.”

Baldoni, who also hosts a podcast called “Man Enough” about modern masculinity and gender roles, went on to write that it was “difficult to accept the award when it’s so evident that there’s so much more work ahead of us.”

“I hope we can teach our boys while they’re still young that vulnerability is strength, sensitivity is a superpower, and empathy makes them strong,” he continued. “That they should love and embrace their masculinity – that being a boy and a man is wonderful and nothing to apologize for. And to appreciate all the beautiful and complicated parts of them that make them human. I believe with all my heart that once our boys learn to be a safe space for themselves, our world will finally be a safe space for everyone.”

On Friday, December 20, a week after Baldoni accepted the award, Lively filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him with accusations that he had created a “hostile work environment”. It ends with us filmed and caused “serious emotional distress” to the actress.

According to the lawsuit he obtained My Weekly after he announced it TMZ and The New York Timesa meeting was held in January during the film’s production to address Lively’s claims against her co-star.

Lively’s demands for the meeting included “no more showing nude videos or pictures of women to Blake, no mention of Baldoni’s alleged prior ‘pornography addiction’ no more discussions of sexual exploits in front of Blake and others, no more mentions of cast and crew’s genitalia, no more questions about Blake’s weight, and no more mention of Blake’s dead father.”

In the statement to OurBaldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman addressed Lively’s “completely false, outrageous and deliberately disgraceful” allegations, claiming she filed the lawsuit to “correct her negative reputation” and “correct the story” about the film’s production. He claimed that Lively made “many demands and threats” that included “threats not to show up on set, threats not to promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release if her demands were not met.”

Additionally, the lawsuit alleged that Baldoni and his team orchestrated a smear campaign against Lively to damage her reputation. Earlier this year, the actress was the subject of a promotion on social media It ends with uswhen it was reported that she and Baldoni had clashed on set.

“There were two camps on film — Team Blake and Team Justin,” a source exclusively speaking Our in August. “This creative struggle set the tone for the negative experience behind the scenes and escalated into them stopping talking.”

Minhaj, for his part, was he asked about this alleged dispute in September with dear sirhe said he “can’t speak to other people’s experiences” on set, noting that “everyone was very professional and cool with me”.

He added: “It was beautiful and everyone was nice and it’s just as disillusioning for me because I’m like, ‘What happened? Wait, what’s going on?'”

In the statement to The New York Times on Saturday Lively – who received support from several stars including It ends with us author Colleen Hoover and producer Alex Saks– said: “I hope my legal action will help pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics that harm people who speak up about wrongdoing and help protect others who may be targeted.” She denied spreading negative information about Baldonim.