The battle over claims of what occurred on the set of It Ends With Us continues as Blake Lively’s authorized workforce responded to Justin Baldoni’s workforce releasing uncooked, unedited footage from the movie following Lively’s sexual harassment claims.
The 10-minute video, shared by Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman on Tuesday, contains one scene the place the actors’ characters Lily Bloom (Lively) and Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni) are gradual dancing. (The scene was referenced in Lively’s lawsuit towards her co-star, accusing him of “behaving inappropriately” and claiming he “ignored well-established industry protocols in filming intimate scenes.”)
The footage reveals Baldoni, 40, and Lively, 37, filming a scene with no dialogue, talking about their spouses and joking about his nostril and her spray tan.
In an announcement following the discharge of the footage, Lively’s workforce says that “every frame of the released footage corroborates, to the letter,” what Lively included in her lawsuit, filed on Dec. 20, 2024, in regards to the particular scene.
“Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt will get ahead of the damaging evidence against him, but the video itself is damning,” Lively’s authorized workforce stated of their assertion.
“The video shows Mr. Baldoni repeatedly leaning in toward Ms. Lively, attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, flicking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her out of character. Every moment of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni with no discussion or consent in advance, and no intimacy coordinator present.”
They additionally point out that Baldoni was ready of energy because the movie’s director and Lively’s boss.
“The video shows Ms. Lively leaning away and repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk. Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognize Ms. Lively’s discomfort,” her authorized workforce stated. “They will acknowledge her makes an attempt at levity to attempt to deflect the undesirable touching.
“No woman should have to take defensive measures to avoid being touched by their employer without their consent,” her attorneys stated. “This matter is in active litigation in federal court. Releasing this video to the media, rather than presenting it as evidence in court, is another example of an unethical attempt to manipulate the public. It is also a continuation of their harassment and retaliatory campaign.”
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The just lately launched footage opens with an announcement from Baldoni’s authorized workforce: “The following videos captured on May 23, 2023, clearly refute Ms. Lively’s characterization of his behaviour.”
“The scene in question was designed to show the two characters falling in love and longing to be close to one another. Both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism. These are all three takes filmed in sequence,” the assertion learn.
Both actors have been partaking in small discuss, picked up by their mics. At one level, Lively steered that it could be “more romantic” if their characters spoke to one another whereas they danced.
When they put their heads nearer collectively whereas dancing, Lively made a joke about the way it felt “so nosey,” in reference to their noses touching. Baldoni replied, saying, “I know. And my nose is so big.”
“Yes. I was hoping we could address this. It’s not too late,” Lively responded.
Later, Baldoni stated that he was most likely “getting beard” on Lively whereas they danced so intently. She responded by saying she was most likely getting spray tan on him.
“It smells good,” Baldoni replied.
Lively’s lawsuit claimed Baldoni sexually harassed her on the set of It Ends With Us and talked about a “slow dance scene” with the actor. She alleged that through the filming of the scene Baldoni “leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, ‘It smells so good.’”
“When Ms. Lively later objected to this behaviour, Mr. Baldoni’s response was, ‘I’m not even attracted to you,’” the criticism learn.
Lively claimed {that a} assembly was held to handle Baldoni’s behaviour, the place she alleges that he talked about his previous “porn addiction” and confirmed her “nude videos or images of women.”
His authorized workforce responded to the claims on behalf of Baldoni, calling them “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious.”
On Jan. 21, the identical day Baldoni’s authorized workforce launched the footage, Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds attorneys issued a letter to evaluate Lewis J. Liman searching for a gag order for Baldoni’s lawyer Freedman.
According to paperwork obtained by a number of leisure publications, Lively’s authorized workforce alleges that “virtually every day” since she filed her lawsuit towards Baldoni, “Mr. Freedman has given television interviews, appeared on podcasts, issued inflammatory written statements, and leaked information (including, remarkably, documents as banal as document preservation demands to third parties) to the Hollywood press and tabloid media.”
The couple’s attorneys additionally allege that lots of the public statements made by Freedman, “not only continue the campaign of retaliation that was the subject of Ms. Lively’s First Cease and Desist, but they contain numerous new false statements about Ms. Lively and others.”
(Global News has not independently seen the authorized paperwork.)
Last week, Baldoni sued his co-star Lively and her husband, Deadpool actor Reynolds, for defamation. Baldoni’s go well with seeks a minimum of $400 million for damages that embrace misplaced future earnings.
That lawsuit got here the identical day that Baldoni sued the New York Times for libel, alleging the paper labored with Lively to smear him.
The lawsuit filed in federal court docket in New York says the plaintiffs didn’t need to file the go well with, however that Lively “has unequivocally left them with no choice, not only to set the record straight in response to Lively’s accusations, but also to put the spotlight on the parts of Hollywood that they have dedicated their careers to being the antithesis of.”
In response to the $400-million defamation and extortion lawsuit, the Gossip Girl star’s authorized workforce stated, “This latest lawsuit from Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its associates is another chapter in the abuser playbook.”
“This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim,” the assertion continued. “This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.
“Wayfarer has opted to use the resources of its billionaire co-founder to issue media statements, launch meritless lawsuits, and threaten litigation to overwhelm the public’s ability to understand that what they are doing is retaliation against sexual harassment allegations.”
It Ends With Us, primarily based on the bestselling 2016 novel by Colleen Hoover, was launched in August 2024 and exceeded field workplace expectations with a $50-million debut. It begins as a normal romantic drama earlier than taking a darkish flip into home violence. The fallout in its aftermath has made main waves in Hollywood and led to discussions of the remedy of feminine actors each on units and in media.
—With information from The Associated Press
