The Justin Baldoni–Blake Lively feud continues over exactly what transpired on the set of It Ends With Us, the blockbuster movie starring the duo and produced by Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studio.
On Tuesday, Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman and his expert public relations team provided the Daily Mail with behind-the-scenes footage they say disproves several key allegations brought against Baldoni by Lively. The footage involved a scene of Lively and Baldoni’s characters slow-dancing in a bar early on in the movie as their romance grows, but the audience cannot hear what they are saying by deliberate design.
Lively filed her action earlier this month in federal court in the Southern District of New York against Baldoni, Wayfarer CEO Jamie Heath, publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis PR consultant Melissa Nathan. Baldoni both directed and starred in the film, which is based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel. Sony distributed and marketed the film after partnering with Wayfarer.
Lively’s complaint accuses Baldoni of sexual harassment, and he and his associates of orchestrating a smear campaign. (He filed his own complaint last week against Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds, seeking at least $400 million in damages for waging their own smear campaign, amid other actions.)
Regarding the slow-dance sequence, Baldoni “let the camera roll and had them perform the scene, but did not act in character as Ryle; instead, he spoke to Ms. Lively out of character as himself. At one point, he leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, ‘it smells so good.’ None of this was remotely done in character, or based on any dialogue in the script, and nothing needed to be said because, again, there was no sound — Mr. Baldoni was caressing Mr. Lively with his mouth in a way that had nothing to do with their roles,” her legal team allege in the lawsuit. “When Ms. Lively later objected to this behavior, Ms. Baldoni’s response was, ‘I’m not even attracted to you.’”
The nearly 10-minute video features three takes from the dance scene. A title card accompanying the May 2023 footage provided to the media by Freedman’s camp states that both actors were behaving within the scope of the scene and with “mutual respect and professionalism.” It goes on to say the footage clearly “refutes Ms. Lively’s characterization” of Baldoni’s behavior, and that “the scene described was intended to show the two characters falling in love and longing to be close to one another.”
However, that is arguably up for interpretation. When Baldoni repeatedly tries to kiss her, Lively does indeed pull back, even if slightly, or turn her head away. She also says multiple times that talking would be a more effective way of imparting the nature of their budding romance. Nor is it not clear if the footage was edited. For instance, the footage provided by Freedman does not show Lively objecting to Baldoni’s behavior, or his response that he wasn’t attracted to her, as referenced in her suit.
Lively’s attorneys wrote in the statement to The Hollywood Reporter that “every frame of the released footage corroborates” the actress’ claims, adding that the videos are “manufactured media stunts.” The actress-producer is represented by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
Continuing, they said, “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. Every frame of the released footage corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Lively described in paragraph 48 of her complaint. 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 also note that Baldoni was the one in a position of power; not only was he her co-star, but the film’s director, the head of Wayfarer and hence her 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. They will recognize her attempts at levity to try to deflect the unwanted touching. No woman should have to take defensive measures to avoid being touched by their employer without their consent,” said her attorneys. “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.”
Freedman is indeed a no-holds-barred litigator. While he has yet to respond directly to Lively’s lawsuit on behalf of Baldoni and the other defendants, he has sued The New York Times for allegedly conspiring with Lively’s public relations team to advance an “unverified and self-serving narrative” while ignoring evidence that contradicted her claims. He and Baldoni are also including Disney and Marvel Studios, saying that Reynolds used the character Nicepool in Deadpool & Wolverine to mock him.
When reached Tuesday night regarding the assertion that the release of the footage was a “media stunt,” Freedman said in a statement to THR, “Prior to filing her lawsuit in court, Ms. Lively went to The New York Times in an effort to publicly destroy Justin Baldoni. When Mr. Baldoni exercises his right to publicly defend himself by putting forth actual facts and evidence, for Ms Lively and team this instantly becomes morally and ethically wrong. Ms. Lively wants very different standards to apply to her but fortunately, truth and authenticity apply to everyone and can never be wrong. Looking at the video and the evidence to come, I can understand why Ms. Lively would now, not want this to play out in public.”
For their part, Lively’s legal team said, “While they are focused on misleading media narratives, we are focused on the legal process. We are continuing our efforts to require Mr. Baldoni and his associates to answer in court, under oath, rather than through manufactured media stunts.”