Actor Blake Lively accused her It ends with us director and co-star Justin Baldoni for sexually harassing her on the film’s set and subsequently attempting to “destroy” her reputation in a legal action.

The complaint, obtained by The Associated Press, precedes the lawsuit. The New York Times reported that it was filed Friday with the California Department of Civil Rights.

It names Baldoni, the studio behind it It ends with us and among the accused are Baldoni’s publicists.

In the complaint, Lively accuses Baldoni and the studio of embarking on a “multi-layered plan” to damage her reputation after a meeting in which she and her husband Ryan Reynolds spoke of “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior” by Baldoni and the film’s producers.

The plan, the complaint alleges, included proposing to post theories on Internet message boards, designing a social media campaign and marketing news stories critical of Lively. The complaint also says Baldoni “abruptly deviated” from the film’s marketing plan and “used ‘survivor content’ about domestic violence to protect his public image.”

“These allegations are completely false, outrageous and intentionally misrepresented with the intent to publicly injure and repeat the story in the media,” attorney Bryan Freedman, who represents Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and their representatives, said in a statement.

Freedman dismissed Lively’s allegations of a coordinated campaign, saying the studio “proactively” hired a crisis manager “due to multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production.” He said Lively threatened not to show up on set and not promote the film “if her demands were not met.”

These demands were not mentioned in the press release.

“Through my legal action, I hope to help pull back the curtain on this sinister retaliatory tactic to harm people who speak up about misconduct and help protect others who may be targeted,” Lively said in a statement to the Times.

A representative for Lively referred the Associated Press to the Times report, in which Lively denied planting or spreading negative information about Baldoni or the studio.

It ends with usadaptation of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 bestseller, was released in August, exceeding box office expectations with a $50 million debut.

But the film’s release was shrouded in speculation about disagreements between the lead pair. Baldoni took second place promoting the film, while Lively took center stage alongside Reynolds, who was in the press circle for Deadpool & Wolverine simultaneously.

Baldoni, who starred in the telenovela broadcast Jane the Virgindirection Five feet apart and wrote man enough and
the book, which challenges traditional notions of masculinity, responded to concerns that the film romanticized domestic violence, saying at the time that critics had “an absolute right to think so”.

“If anyone has had a real-life experience like that, I can imagine how difficult it would be to imagine that experience in a romance novel,” he said. “I would just say to them that we worked very deliberately to make this film.”