Justin Baldoni's Podcast Co-Host Liz Plank Quits Following Blake Lively Claims
Liz Plank, the longtime co-host of Justin Baldoni's The Man Enough Podcast, has stepped down from the show amid allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation against Baldoni.
On Friday, Blake Lively, Baldoni's co-star in the upcoming film It Ends With Us, accused him of misconduct on set and orchestrating a smear campaign against her in a legal filing.
In a new statement, Plank explained her decision to leave the podcast, which launched in 2021 to explore issues of modern masculinity.
"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 says.
"Thank you for trusting me with your hearts and stories, for holding space for mine, and for making this show what it was," she adds.
Plank also expressed gratitude toward the podcast's listeners and her hope for a better future.
"As this chapter closes for me, I remain committed to the values we've built together," she continues. "We all deserve better, and I know that together, we can create it."
Lively's legal complaint, filed on Dec. 20, alleges Baldoni showed her explicit images, made inappropriate comments about her personal life and attempted to add intimate scenes to the film without her consent, as AOL News reported.
The actress claims she experienced "grief, fear, trauma, and extreme anxiety" as a result of his behavior.
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The filing also accuses Baldoni and his team, including publicist Jennifer Abel and the PR firm TAG PR, of coordinating a smear campaign to discredit her, as People reported. Alleged texts and emails collected in the complaint reveal discussions about manipulating media and social platforms to harm Lively's reputation.
The lawsuit also names Jamey Heath, president of Wayfarer Studios and co-host of Man Enough, as a co-defendant, along with the studio's co-founder Steve Sarowitz.
Lively's filing outlines a meeting she had with the film's producers, where she and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, requested safety measures. These included no improvised kissing or personal touching without explicit consent.
While Baldoni agreed to these measures at the time, Lively alleged that his later actions violated their agreement. She said her legal action aims to expose retaliatory tactics and protect others from similar harm.
In a statement last week, Lively said, "I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct."
Baldoni has denied the allegations through his lawyer, calling them "false" and "intentionally salacious." However, his talent agency, WME, dropped him on Dec. 21, and fans noticed that Lively and other cast members unfollowed him on social media.
TAG PR, which represented Baldoni during the fallout, defended its actions in a statement shared via Freedman PR.
The firm said it acted "as any other crisis management firm would when hired by a client experiencing threats by two extremely powerful people with unlimited resources."
