Justin Baldoni A few months ago men talked about believing they "want to be better." Blake Lively Allegations of sexual harassment against him.

when Talking exclusively with our weekly In October, Baldoni, 40, said that while men are "the driving force behind all crime," their behavior is "a cry for help."

“It's not because men are bad people. I believe there is a cry for help. There is a cry for community right now. We want to be good people. We want to be better men,” said the actor our At the time "What I've learned is that men are awesome. What I've learned is that every man I meet is a good man and wants to be a good man. That men aren't trash, that men shouldn't be labeled this thing, but as men we have more. Good work must be done to support other men and create safe spaces for them."

Baldoni commented on his podcast discussing “Man is enough,” which “explores what it means to be a man today and how rigid gender roles have affected all people,” according to the podcast's website. our That he deliberately "made an effort" not to use the term "toxic masculinity" when discussing men on his podcast.

“The reason is because it's one of those phrases that has been politicized and you're losing a lot of people. In my experience, not worth a word. If 50 percent of people can't hear my message because of a phrase, I won't (use it)," he explained.

Lively, 37, filed a lawsuit on Friday, Dec. 20, Baldoni accused of sexual harassment and started a smear campaign to tarnish his reputation. In the legal filing, Lively claims a meeting was held to address her claims that there was a "hostile work environment" on the set of the film. It ends with uswhich was directed by Baldoni and starred Lively.

Some of Lively's demands for the meeting included "no more nude videos or images of women shown to Blake, no more mention of Baldoni's alleged previous 'pornography addiction,' no more discussion of sexual conquest in front of Blake, and no mention of cast and crew genitalia." , there is no further reference to Blake's weight, and no further mention of Blake's dead father."

Lively also alleges in the lawsuit that Baldoni staged unwanted kisses for the film, which hit theaters in August.

“Mr. Baldoni created physical intimacy that was not rehearsed, choreographed or discussed with Ms. Lively, involving no intimate coordinator," court documents state. "For example, Mr. Baldoni discreetly bit Ms Lively's lower lip and sucked during a scene in which he planted numerous kisses on each take. Mr. Baldoni insisted on repeatedly shooting entire scenes beyond what would be required on a normal set and without prior notice or consent."

The lawsuit also includes text messages and emails that Lively obtained through a subpoena. The text messages allegedly show Baldoni worked with a crisis PR team to prevent stories about his behavior and encourage negative stories about Lively. In a message allegedly sent on Aug. 2, a publicist who worked with Baldoni wrote to a crisis management expert, "He wants to feel like he can be buried."

Baldoni's lawyer Brian Friedman A statement shared with it called the lawsuit's claims "completely false, outrageous and deliberately defamatory". ourclaims that Lively filed the lawsuit to "fix her negative reputation" and "restore a narrative" about the film's production.

Meanwhile, Lively said in a statement The New York Times"I hope that my legal action will help pull back the curtain on these horrific retaliatory tactics for those who speak out about misconduct and help protect those who may be targeted."