Blake Lively has responded after Justin Baldoni released behind-the-scenes footage from the set of It Ends With Us.
In December, the New York Times published an article detailing the 37-year-old actress’s lawsuit against Baldoni.
The Gossip Girl alum, who stars as Lily Bloom in the Colleen Hoover adaptation, has accused her co-star of engaging in sexual harassment on set and orchestrating a smear campaign against her in the media.
Bryan Freedman, Baldoni’s lawyer, slammed Lively’s lawsuit, blasting her allegations as “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt,” PEOPLE reported.
Freedman claimed that the mom-of-three caused problems on the set of the film, which is currently streaming, “threatening to not showing up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release”.
In Lively’s explosive filing, she claimed Baldoni exhibited “disturbing” and “unprofessional” behavior while filming, which caused a “hostile work environment” and “grief, fear, trauma, and extreme anxiety”.
One accusation from the Green Lantern star detailed an alleged incident during the filming of “a slow dance scene for a montage in which no sound was recorded,” per US Weekly.
According to Lively, the Jane the Virgin actor “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 behavior, Mr. Baldoni’s response was, ‘I’m not even attracted to you.'”
The 40-year-old director pushed back on the actress’s claims by releasing behind-the-scenes footage from the set. The 10-minute clip shows the two actors filming a slow dance scene for a slow-motion montage in a bar, appearing relaxed as they laugh and discuss the direction for the romantic sequence.
In the video, Lively is seen suggesting that their characters talk instead of kissing. At another point, Baldoni leans in and asks: “Am I getting beard on you today?” to which Lively laughs and replies: “I’m probably getting spray tan on you.” Baldoni then responds: “It smells good.”
Watch the video below:
Lively claimed in her December complaint that Baldoni “did not act in character as Ryle” for the scene and that the actor’s physical intimacy was out of bounds. However, the actor’s legal team has hit back, stating that the footage “clearly refutes Ms. Lively’s characterization of his behavior”.
“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,” they added, per Entertainment Weekly.
The legal counsel noted in their statement that the videos are “all three takes filmed of the sequence” but it’s unclear if there is additional footage that was shot and not included here.
They also added that their client “has nothing to hide,” and said: “Justin and team have the right to defend themselves with the truth and this is what we will be continuing to show with the upcoming website containing all correspondence as well as relevant videos that directly quash her claims.”
Lively’s legal team has now responded to the leaked video, labeling it as “damning”, and saying that “every frame of the released footage corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Lively described in Paragraph 48 of her Complaint”.
The lengthy statement, sent to Entertainment Weekly, slammed Baldoni for “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,” all of which they say was improvised by him “with no discussion or consent in advance, and no intimacy coordinator present”.
“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,” it continued. “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.”
Lively’s legal team also criticized the release of the video, saying that it was “another example of an unethical attempt to manipulate the public” and “a continuation of their harassment and retaliatory campaign”.
