The growing backlash against actor-director Justin Baldoni, who was hit with a legal complaint from Blake Lively this week that alleges he subjected her to persistent sexual harassment while filming It Ends With Us in 2023, now includes his co-host on his weekly podcast, as she announced her departure.
Journalist and author Liz Plank shared on Monday that she is leaving her gig at The Man Enough Podcast, on which she joins Baldoni to discuss masculinity. The 37-year-old Montreal native, announced that she’s departing the podcast she’s co-hosted for three years as denouncements of Baldoni tore across the web. Meanwhile, several celebrities planted themselves firmly on Team Blake in what is becoming a public relations battle between the co-stars.
“I’m writing to you today to let you know that I have had my representatives inform Wayfarer that I will no longer be co-hosting The Man Enough podcast,” Plank wrote in her post. “Thank you for trusting me with your hearts and stories, for holding space for mine, and for making this show what it was. I will miss you, the listeners, so much. I love what this community created together with every fiber of my being, and that’s because of you.”
Plank, who reported for Mic, NBC News and Vox Media, published her first book, For the Love of Men: From Toxic to a More Mindful Masculinity, in 2019. Two years later, she launched The Man Enough Podcast with Baldoni and Jamey Heath, the president of Wayfarer Studios, the independent production studio behind It Ends With Us, and the weekly show where the three speak with guests about masculinity and their journeys as men.
Lively’s complaint states that she was subjected to sexual harassment and a coordinated effort to damage her reputation. Baldoni’s legal team quickly fired back, calling Lively’s claims “shameful,” “serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives.”
Before Plank’s announcement on Monday, Baldoni‘s Voices of Solidarity Award for “advocating on behalf of women and girls” had been rescinded following Lively‘s complaint against him, his team and Wayfarer Studios. On Dec. 9, Baldoni received the Vital Voices honor, which celebrates “remarkable men who have shown courage and compassion in advocating on behalf of women and girls.”
On Monday, Lively’s co-stars from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, A Simple Favor director Paul Feig and Amber Heard spoke out on behalf of the actress. For his part, Baldoni has been dropped from agency WME and his publicist, Jennifer Abel, who was also listed on the legal complaint, shared her side of the story.
