Justin Baldoni responds to costar Blake Lively's harassment lawsuit

Justin Baldoni's lawyer has issued a statement in response to Blake Lively's legal complaint.

In a legal complaint reported by The New York Times, Lively has accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation. She alleged that he made sexual and other inappropriate comments to her and used a crisis PR expert to launch a smear campaign against her.

"It is shameful that Ms Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives," attorney Bryan Freedman said in a statement to the newspaper.

The complaint was filed following months of rumours of a rift between Baldoni and Lively, after the costars did no joint promotion for their film, It Ends With Us.

The director's lawyer called Lively's allegations in the complaint "yet another desperate attempt to 'fix' her negative reputation".

The statement continued, "These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media."

In her own statement to The New York Times, 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 and helps protect others who may be targeted."