Kate Beckinsale in Los Angeles on Oct. 24, 2024.Photo:JC Olivera/Getty
JC Olivera/Getty
Kate Beckinsaleis speaking out about her own harrowing on-set experiences, in the wake of thesexual-harassment complaintthatBlake Livelyrecently filed againstJustin Baldoni.
The actress opened upin a candid videoposted to her Instagram grid on Dec. 29, where she said that while she has never metIt Ends with Uscostars Lively and Baldoni, their situation has “highlighted … this machine that goes into effect when a woman complains about something legitimately offensive, upsetting, harmful, whatever, in this industry.”
“I said, ‘I can’t. I’m bleeding. I don’t want to go and change my clothes in front of people I don’t know and do a photo shoot. I’m bleeding out a miscarriage,’ " theUnderworldactress said. “She was like, ‘You’ll have to, or you’ll be sued.’ "
While she didn’t name the film project, she said that in response, the studio gave her a bike to ride around the lot while waiting, and that she was once called a “stupid bitch” during a take.
Of other experiences, Beckinsale said, “I was put on such a strict diet-and-exercise program on one movie that I lost my periods altogether — that’s happened twice.”
She also recalled being put in “unsafe fight situation on two different films with two different actors,” to the point where she had “MRIs proving” she was seriously hurt.
Kate Beckinsale in London on Sept. 12, 2024.Dave Benett/Getty Images
Dave Benett/Getty Images
Beckinsale went on to say she has “about 47 million stories similar to” the ones she shared and that while men often tell her things are different on set nowadays, “it f—ing isn’t.”
“I’m grateful to Blake Lively for highlighting that this isnot an archaic problemthat no one’s facing — this is continuing,” she said. “And then when it does happen, a machine goes into place to absolutely destroy you. And I’m sure that’s the case in other industries as well, and it’s just got to stop.”
Beckinsale, who has been open about health challenges in her past, presented her video alongside a lengthy caption that read in part, “Complaining about abuse should not beget more abuse, particularly at work where there should be inviolable safeguarding in place, and it should not be expected of women who have been harmed, insulted, hurt, shamed or in any other way abused (mostly with at least 100 witnesses) to have to be ‘one of the boys’ and take it on the chin or face retribution for having been abused in the first place.”
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Justin Baldoni in New York City on Dec. 13, 2023; Blake Lively in New York City on Feb. 13, 2024.Gregory Pace/Shutterstock;Taylor Hill/WireImage
Gregory Pace/Shutterstock;Taylor Hill/WireImage
“I don’t want anybody, male or female who has a legitimate complaint to then have that weaponized against them in any industry, anywhere, and I mention this in association with Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni because our industry makes things more visible due to the press and the public getting deliberately involved and led towards an opinion they don’t realize is deliberate,” she added.
In abombshell complaint filedwith the California Civil Rights Department on Dec. 20, lawyers for Lively claimed Baldoni, whose production company, Wayfarer Studios, developedIt Ends with Us, sexually harassed the actress and then retaliated against her with a smear campaign after she spoke up.
The filing — a prerequisite before bringing a workplace harassment lawsuit in the state of California — sets the stage for what has the potential to be an ugly legal battle and shines a light on allegations of ongoing sexism in Hollywood years afterthe #MeToo movement.
“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 a statement toThe New York Times.
Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman called the allegations “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt” in a Dec. 21 statement.
source: people.com