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Former Costars Support Blake Lively After She Alleges Sexual Harassment; Source: Agency Drops Justin Baldoni After Blake Lively's Accusation; Woman Randomly Set On Fire While Riding NYC Subway; FDA Approves Weight-Loss Drug Zepbound For Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired December 23, 2024 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[13:32:32]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Former costars of Blake Lively are now voicing their support for the actor amid allegations of harassment on the set of her recent film, "It Ends with Us," a movie which also centers on domestic violence.

Lively, filing a civil rights complaint against the film's lead actor and director, Justin Baldoni, as well as others for sexual harassment, and also alleging of a plot to destroy her reputation.

America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel saying in a statement, quote, "We are appalled to read the evidence of a premeditated and vindictive effort that ensued to discredit her voice. Most upsetting is the unabashed exploitation of domestic violence survivors' stories to silence a woman who asked for safety."

Going on to say, "The hypocrisy is astounding."

CNN entertainment correspondent, Elizabeth Wagmeister, joining me now.

Elizabeth, when this dropped over the weekend, a lot of people's jaws dropped. Walk us through what Blake Lively says happened to her and others on set.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And one of the reasons why so many people's jaws dropped is because there was already intense speculation over what was going on, on this set.

The reason why is because, when this film was released, a lot of fans noticed that Blake Lively and other cast members from this film didn't follow Justin Baldoni on social media.

And the two stars never posed for a photo together or did a single interview in the promotion of the film, which obviously is incredibly rare for two costars.

Well, now we are learning more of what happened, at least from Blake Lively's side, in this civil rights complaint, where she alleges that she was subjected to an unsafe work environment during production of the film, and that she was subjected to sexual harassment by Justin Baldoni and another male producer on the film.

Now, some of her allegations include that there were unwanted sexual comments made, that Justin Baldoni was talking about his sex life. She alleges that he and that male producer came into her trailer numerous times, uninvited, when she was either undressed or breastfeeding her newborn.

But this isn't just a sexual harassment complaint. This is also a retaliation complaint. Blake Lively and her lawyers are alleging that after she spoke up about this alleged misconduct and alleged sexual harassment, that her team asked for safeguards.

And they got that. There was a meeting because things got so bad that they had to have a meeting and come to an agreement over different protocols that would make Blake and her employees feel more safe.

[13:35:00]

They all agreed to have an intimacy coordinator on that set. But then afterwards, Blake says that she believes that Justin's team led a sophisticated and coordinated campaign behind the scenes to essentially take her down.

Now, this lengthy, lengthy complaint includes dozens, if not hundreds, of screenshots of text messages between Justin and members of his team.

I believe that we have one of those, and I want to read you part of it. Erica, this is between two representatives of Justin Baldoni saying, in part, "We can't write. We will destroy her."

So there, Blakes team saying this is proof that they were putting a coordinated effort to quite literally destroy her reputation.

Now, Justin Baldoni's team is denying this fiercely. They are saying that this is commonplace where there are private conversations behind the scenes, where publicists have to talk about public image.

In fact, they say that Blake Lively's team was actually planting negative stories about Justin.

I want to read you part of the statement that I obtained from Justin Baldoni's attorney.

He says, quote, "It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations at yet another desperate attempt to fix her negative reputation."

Now, Blake Lively, in a statement saying, quote, "I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on the sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted."

Now, Erica, you walked through some of the support from Blake Lively's former costars. There has been some other support from the author of the book on which this movie was based on. Also a former director that Blake Lively worked with.

And Justin Baldoni has been dropped by his talent agency, WME. I confirmed that with the source over the weekend. And it is important to note that WME, that talent agency, also represents Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.

HILL: Elizabeth Wagmeister really appreciate you walking us through all of that. Thank you.

Also joining me this hour, civil rights and employment attorney, Nancy Erika Smith, who, of course, represented Gretchen Carlson in her successful sexual harassment suit against Roger Ailes of FOX News.

It's great to talk to you, as always, especially when we're looking at what we see in this civil complaint here.

This is not -- important to note, it's not a lawsuit. But given the fact that it was submitted to the California Civil Rights Department, if they accept it, this could potentially -- if they investigate, this could lead to some sort of legal action.

Based on what you see here, what do you expect will happen?

NANCY ERIKA SMITH, CIVIL RIGHTS & EMPLOYMENT ATTORNEY: I expect it to lead to a lawsuit because I think that Ms. Lively has clearly laid out a clear campaign of retaliation because she complained about sexual harassment.

And the answer to -- to her complaints is old school. It's been done for a long time.

Roger Ailes had a black-ops organization in his own -- in FOX News to attack any employees who complained about him. We know that.

Weinstein had a retaliatory organization that went after anybody who complained about him. They really attacked Rose McGowan, who was the first woman to publicly accused Weinstein of the sexual abuse that we now know was so rampant.

O'Reilly did it at FOX News against the first woman to publicly accuse him, Andrea MacKris. And then we learned that the -- you know, $30 million was paid to six or seven women who he sexually harassed.

So it's old school to attack, but it's actually illegal to attack and retaliate against women who complain of sexual harassment. And here, it looks like the production company itself was involved.

And the answer is so tone deaf. Except it may be how we live now. Its deny, deny, deny, attack, attack, attack. Its right out of "The Apprentice" movie, what Roy Cohn taught Donald Trump.

They continue to attack Ms. Lively, even though other cast members have joined her, including Colleen Hoover, the writer of -- of the screenplay and the book that the movie is based on. So other people in this workplace saw and experienced sexual harassment. One of the things that Ms. Lively complained about is them showing

cast members naked pictures, talking about their pornography addictions, talking about their genitalia. Not just -- she didn't just complain for herself. She complained for other people.

So here we are, almost 2025, there are still extremely harassing and toxic work environments.

And the retaliation works because, as Mr. Baldoni's own two female crisis managers said, "It's kind of sad how everybody is eating up the misogyny."

[13:40:00]

It takes a whole culture to accept this kind of trash-talking of women.

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HILL: Well, just to pick up on what you said there, one of those women -- and this is this is in the this is in the complaint, right? There's a screenshot of a text.

It says, and I'm quoting here, "It's actually sad because it just shows you have people really want to hate on women." This coming from another woman, allegedly.

When we look at this, you know, you point out, which I think is important here too, in this filing, right, it goes through and alleges the complaints that we're lodged with H.R. on the set by other women.

The concerns that we're raised, again, not just by Blake Lively. Part of that agreement, then afterwards, as filming continues, was not only an intimacy coordinator, but it also included an agreement during filming that the studio wouldn't retaliate against Blake Lively.

How could that come into play?

SMITH: Well, it shows that she anticipated retaliation and that they knew that she feared retaliation.

And that they, typically, unfortunately, for all of H.R. that I've experienced, except the H.R. representatives who I've represented, who tried to do the right thing, H.R. does not help women complaining about sexual harassment.

H.R. participates in the retaliation. That's the reality that I have seen for more than 40 years, representing women who complain about sexual harassment.

So that's why we need to go to courts. That's why we need jury trials. That's why it's so important that we have now outlawed forced arbitration of sexual harassment claims. So they're public. And so they can't protect the harassers and go after the women like this.

Let's have a public airing of how this happened. There are a lot of enablers in this case. And they're powerful enablers.

HILL: As we move forward on this, Justin Baldoni, also someone, who over the last number of years, has really cultivated a public image of someone who is an ally to women, calling out toxic masculinity.

A lot to -- a lot to unpack here. We'll continue to follow it.

Nancy Erika Smith, always appreciate your insight. Thank you.

SMITH: Thank you, Erica.

HILL: Just ahead here on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, the New York City police commissioner calls it one of the most depraved crimes a person could possibly commit. A suspect arrested in the killing of a woman who was set on fire in the New York subway car. How police were able to track down the alleged culprit.

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[13:46:12]

FREEMAN: New York authorities are investigating a horrific attack at a subway station. Police say a man has been arrested after he set a woman on fire inside of a train on Sunday morning, then sat and watched her burn to death as police tried to save her life.

Now the suspect fled the scene, but investigators used surveillance and police body cam video to create these wanted posters. He was caught several hours later.

For more on this, let's get over to CNN national correspondent Gloria Pazmino.

Gloria, I understand you have new details about the suspect. Tell us, what are you learning?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Danny, we're getting some new information about the suspects identity. We have just learned that his name is Sebastian Zapata Carlisle.

And he is a 33-year-old Guatemalan citizen, according to Customs and Border Patrol officials who have confirmed the identity for us.

Now, we were learning -- we were waiting to learn more details about the identity of the suspect.

We did learn last night, after he was arrested, that he had entered the United States in 2018 from Guatemala. We don't know much more about his immigration status right now.

We do know that he was apprehended at one point in 2018. He was served with an order for expedited removal and was actually deported back to Guatemala six days later.

However, the officials at Customs and Border Patrol tell us that he unlawfully reentered the country at an unknown date. So it's important to highlight that it appears the suspect has been in the country for several years at this point.

We are also waiting to hear more about what charges he may be facing. I'm told by sources that investigators have been trying to get more details about exactly what happened and how -- and how it happened, before they announced charges.

Now I just want to kind of go over what we know so far. This incident happened on Sunday morning. It happened in Brooklyn at the end of the F train line.

That's where police say that a suspect approached a woman who appeared to be asleep inside of the subway train. They say that he used a lighter -- a lighter to light her on fire. She was wearing a lot of clothes, including a blanket, which quickly was engulfed in flames.

Police that were patrolling the station at the time actually responded when they saw the smoke. They tried to put her out, but, unfortunately, they were not able to save her.

Now, Danny, as you said, it was because of those patrol officers on the platform as well as video that was captured on surveillance cameras that they we're able to disseminate photos of the suspect very quickly.

And he was apprehended about eight hours later riding the same train line, the F train, this time in Manhattan. He was arrested there by NYPD police officers yesterday afternoon.

And we are awaiting to hear more details about the faces -- the charges that he is facing -- Danny?

FREEMAN: Now just a terrifying story all around.

Gloria Pazmino, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

[13:49:16]

All right. And stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

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HILL: For the first time, a weight-loss drug, Zepbound, is being approved to treat obstructive sleep apnea. So it's a condition that affects tens of millions of people across the country.

But it's the first time the FDA has approved any prescription medicine to specifically treat it.

Here's CNN's Meg Tirrell with the details.

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MET TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So Zepbound is in this class of GLP one medicines that also includes Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro. It's based on the drug Tirzepatide. Its sold by Eli Lilly. And this is the first approval of a medicine for obstructive sleep

apnea. And it's specifically for people with obstructive sleep apnea and obesity.

They suspect that it is the weight loss that's happening with this medicine that could be helping with the sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea affects an estimated 30 million Americans, or perhaps even more. Experts say a lot of folks don't even realize that they have it.

It's characterized by this sort of closure of the upper airway when folks are sleeping, and that can lead to real sleep disruptions and significant health problems that are associated with it.

It is closely linked with obesity. And even before this drug was approved, weight loss was recommended as a treatment to potentially reduce its severity.

[13:55:04]

Now, Eli Lilly ran two trials, two major trials in sleep apnea with this medicine. One with the medicine compared with placebo alone. So when patients weren't taking anything else.

And the other one on top of therapy with a CPAP machine. So those big machines that folks have to wear when they have sleep apnea to try to keep their airway open when they're sleeping.

And even on top of that CPAP therapy, they saw major improvements overall in the study with Zepbound. On average, people we're experiencing about 50 of these breathing disruptions or events per hour as they were sleeping at the beginning of this study.

After a year of treatment with Zepbound, even on top of CPAP therapy, they saw a reduction of about 29 events per hour. And some folks had even greater responses than that.

They saw this on top of the weight loss we expect to see with these medicines that we've seen in other trials and in real world use.

On average, about 18 to 20 percent of body weight over the course of a year of treatment. That equated to about 45 to 50 pounds.

So this isn't necessarily expected to increase the number of people eligible for these medicines, because they're already -- this one is already approved for obesity. And this is just for obstructive sleep apnea with obesity.

What it could do, however, is potentially change insurance coverage, especially for people on Medicare, for whom right now they don't get coverage for drugs for weight loss alone. So we'll have to see if that changes that.

But that could be a welcome improvement for a lot of folks for whom these drugs are very, very expensive. And they're just adding to the indications for which they could potentially help beyond weight loss and diabetes.

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HILL: All right. Meg Tirrell, appreciate that. Thank you.

Still to come here, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson pleads not guilty to state murder and terror charges in New York. His attorney, raising new concerns about the state case moving forward. Those details next.

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