Michele Morrone recalled seeing Blake Lively in ‘pain’ after she wrapped filming It Ends With Us.
The film has been shrouded in controversy since Lively, 37, sued her former It Ends With Us costar and director Justin Baldoni on Saturday for alleged sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign.
On Monday, the Italian star — who is slated to act alongside the blonde beauty in the upcoming sequel to A Simple Favor — took to his Instagram Story to share a heartfelt video message standing in solidarity with the actress amid her shocking allegations and mixed public response.
‘So it’s usually not my thing to make these types of videos, but I think it’s time to stand up for a person I really love and this person is Blake Lively,’ he said in the clip.
He recalled: ‘I personally met Blake during A Simple Favor 2, we shot this incredible film together, and I felt something was wrong, and I felt the pain and then we had the opportunity to talk, me and her.
‘Blake was in pain. And I’m really tired to see those kind of cruel and bad comments about her without knowing the situation,’ Michele continued.
Michele Morrone recalled seeing Blake Lively in ‘pain’ after she wrapped filming It Ends With Us. They star together in A Simple Favor 2; Michele seen left in December and Blake seen right in August
The hunky actor also linked to a New York Times article that detailed the private messages allegedly containing a campaign targeting Lively’s reputation after she accused Baldoni of misconduct on the set of It Ends With Us.
‘So that’s why I want to link right here the article [from] The New York Times so that you can understand before commenting, what happened,’ he added.
‘That’s all I ask. That’s what I want you to do. Blake, I love you so much,’ he gushed. ‘Keep it up and we’re going to see each other very, very soon. Love you.’
It Ends With Us — which was adapted from the 2016 novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover — follows the story of Lily Bloom (Lively), a woman who is navigating a physically abusive relationship with her husband Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni).
When her high school love returns to her life, it makes her question everything about her marriage.
Marrone is one of many stars to stand with Lively after she served the 40-year-old Jane The Virgin actor.
Stars that have publicly supported the actress include Hoover, Amy Schumer, Gwyneth Paltrow and Lively’s Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants costars America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel, among others.
And just days after Baldoni was honored with a Voices of Solidarity award on December 9 — which honors men who have advocated for women’s rights — the Vital Voices organization has rescinded the distinction.
He said: ‘I personally met Blake during A Simple Favor 2, we shot this incredible film together, and I felt something was wrong, and I felt the pain; Michele seen in September
‘Blake was in pain. And I’m really tired to see those kind of cruel and bad comments about her without knowing the situation,’ he said; Blake seen in August
Lively, 37, sued her former It Ends With Us costar and director Justin Baldoni on Saturday for alleged sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign; Justin seen in August
In It Ends With Us, Lively plays a woman navigating a physically abusive relationship with her husband (played by Baldoni). Her life is shaken up when her high school love returns to her life; Baldoni and Lively are pictured in It Ends With Us
The Gossip Girl star claims Baldoni fostered a toxic workplace environment, which included the director allegedly showing her nude videos and images of other women, as well as discussing his previous alleged porn addiction.
‘I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted,’ Lively said in statement.
Baldoni’s team has denied the allegations and claimed the legal action is an attempt to patch up Lively’s reputation, which suffered in the wake of the beleaguered movie’s release.
was mired by a series of scandals after fans picked up on tensions between the two leads.
Lively also claimed Baldoni made inappropriate inquiries about her weight, comments about her dead father and sexual remarks about the cast and crew.
