One A-lister has seemingly shared support for Blake Lively with a similar experience of her own

It was announced last week that Blake Lively was taking legal action against It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni, suing him for sexual harassment and for coordinating an alleged smear campaign against her to damage her reputation.

Lively's legal action comes after months of controversy, with the Colleen Hoover adaptation surrounded by reports of a rift between the two creative leads. And following the film's divisive release and reports of a "fracture" on-set, Lively in particular received a wave of negative attention.

"I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct," Lively announced in a statement via The Times, adding that she hopes her actions will help "protect others who may be targeted.”

Baldoni is reportedly preparing to counter-sue Lively, with his legal representatives calling the accusations "categorically false", and the legal complaint "yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film."

This week, another A-lister weighed in on the legal battle, with actress Abigail Breslin writing an open essay about women being targeted by smear campaigns and used as "scapegoats", sharing her own alleged experience with a former co-star.

“When did the word woman become synonymous with scapegoat,” reads Breslin's now viral essay on Tumblr. "In light of recent events regarding the attempt to destroy the career and livelihood of a fellow actress and woman, I have felt compelled to write this, as I have unfortunately been subject to the same toxic masculinity throughout my life."

She continued: "In my recent career, I’ve brought forward concerns about a male colleague and was deemed ‘hysterical.’ I was told my fears were figments of my imagination. Now, as I’m seeing this pattern pop up more, I realize this is the norm.”

"I, like a lot of women, had hope in change - especially in the latter part of 2017 when many brave women came forward during the #MeToo movement," she later added. "There seemed to be an uprising, a new wave of recognition for those who had been abused, degraded, slandered, silenced and it was loud. But it was the kind of noise I can only liken to a firework. It can wake you up out of a sound sleep, it burns so bright and shocks the shit out of you but then, it burns out - just like that. And when the smoke in the sky clears and the ashes and debris are swept away from the sidewalk, behind closed doors - to them - we are still just noise women.

"And so here we find ourselves again, in a vicious cycle of crucifying another woman for speaking out against a man," she later continued. "Watching as the world splits in two over who is telling the truth, no matter how much evidence is presented. Because how could a woman do anything but lie or exaggerate?"

Read Abigail Breslin's essay in full.