Justin Baldoni’s ‘Man Enough’ podcast co-host Liz Plank announces her departure
By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN
(CNN) — Justin Baldoni’s “Man Enough” podcast co-host Liz Plank announced she’s stepping away from the show after actress Blake Lively accused the actor and director of sexual harassment and a smear campaign in a civil rights complaint last week.
Plank shared the news in a statement posted to her Instagram page on Monday, writing that she informed Baldoni’s production company that she will “no longer be co-hosting” the podcast.
“Thank you for trusting me with your hearts and stories, for holding space for mine, and for making this show what it was,” she wrote. “Thank you for being here, for trusting me, and for being by my side for the last four years. We all deserve better, and I know that together, we can create it.”
Plank added that she will have “more to share soon as I continue to process everything that has happened.”
“In the meantime, I will continue to support everyone who calls out injustice and holds the people standing in their way accountable,” she wrote.
Baldoni, Plank and Wayfarer Studios CEO Jamey Heath – who is also named in the complaint Lively filed with the California Civil Rights Department – have been co-hosting “Man Enough” since 2021. The podcast, according to its website, “explores what it means to be a man today and how rigid gender roles have affected all people.”
In her complaint, obtained by the New York Times, Lively accuses Baldoni, with whom she co-starred in the drama “It Ends With Us,” of sexual harassment and a coordinated “plan” to “destroy” her reputation. Baldoni also directed the film.
Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni, Heath and Wayfarer Studios, denied the allegations in a statement to CNN over the weekend, calling Lively’s claims “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
CNN previously reported that Baldoni’s talent agency William Morris Endeavor severed ties with him following Lively’s claims, according to an individual familiar with the matter.
Representatives for Baldoni and WME did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
The-CNN-Wire
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