Blake Lively responds after Justin Baldoni releases ‘It Ends With Us’ footage

The conflict implicit claims of what happened connected the acceptable of It Ends With Us continues arsenic Blake Lively’s ineligible squad responded to Justin Baldoni’s squad releasing raw, unedited footage from the movie pursuing Lively’s sexual harassment claims.

The 10-minute video, shared by Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman connected Tuesday, includes 1 country wherever the actors’ characters Lily Bloom (Lively) and Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni) are dilatory dancing. (The country was referenced successful Lively’s suit against her co-star, accusing him of “behaving inappropriately” and claiming helium “ignored well-established manufacture protocols successful filming intimate scenes.”)

The footage shows Baldoni, 40, and Lively, 37, filming a country with nary dialogue, speaking astir their spouses and joking astir his chemoreceptor and her spray tan.

In a connection pursuing the merchandise of the footage, Lively’s squad says that “every framework of the released footage corroborates, to the letter,” what Lively included successful her lawsuit, filed connected Dec. 20, 2024, astir the circumstantial scene.

“Justin Baldoni and his lawyer whitethorn anticipation that this latest stunt volition get up of the damaging grounds against him, but the video itself is damning,” Lively’s ineligible squad said successful their statement.

“The video shows Mr. Baldoni repeatedly leaning successful toward Ms. Lively, attempting to buss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his look and rima against her neck, flicking her articulator with his thumb, caressing her, telling her however bully she smells, and talking with her retired of character. Every infinitesimal of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni with nary treatment oregon consent successful advance, and nary intimacy coordinator present.”

They besides notation that Baldoni was successful a presumption of powerfulness arsenic the film’s manager and Lively’s boss.

“The video shows Ms. Lively leaning distant and repeatedly asking for the characters to conscionable talk. Any pistillate who has been inappropriately touched successful the workplace volition admit Ms. Lively’s discomfort,” her ineligible squad said. “They volition admit her attempts astatine levity to effort to deflect the unwanted touching.

“No pistillate should person to instrumentality antiaircraft measures to debar being touched by their leader without their consent,” her lawyers said. “This substance is successful progressive litigation successful national court. Releasing this video to the media, alternatively than presenting it arsenic grounds successful court, is different illustration of an unethical effort to manipulate the public. It is besides a continuation of their harassment and retaliatory campaign.”

The precocious released footage opens with a connection from Baldoni’s ineligible team: “The pursuing videos captured connected May 23, 2023, intelligibly refute Ms. Lively’s characterization of his behaviour.”

“The country successful question was designed to amusement the 2 characters falling successful emotion and longing to beryllium adjacent to 1 another. Both actors are intelligibly behaving good wrong the scope of the country and with communal respect and professionalism. These are each 3 takes filmed successful sequence,” the connection read.

Both actors were engaging successful tiny talk, picked up by their mics. At 1 point, Lively suggested that it would beryllium “more romantic” if their characters spoke to each different portion they danced.

When they enactment their heads person unneurotic portion dancing, Lively made a gag astir however it felt “so nosey,” successful notation to their noses touching. Baldoni replied, saying, “I know. And my chemoreceptor is truthful big.”

“Yes. I was hoping we could code this. It’s not excessively late,” Lively responded.

She past went connected to accidental that Baldoni could acquisition country and they could “shut down [production]” and “call an security month.” Baldoni had previously said that Lively spoke negatively astir his facial quality successful his lawsuit.

Later, Baldoni said that helium was astir apt “getting beard” connected Lively portion they danced truthful closely. She responded by saying she was astir apt getting spray tan connected him.

“It smells good,” Baldoni replied.

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Lively’s suit claimed Baldoni sexually harassed her connected the acceptable of It Ends With Us and mentioned a “slow creation scene” with the actor. She alleged that during the filming of the country Baldoni “leaned guardant and dilatory dragged his lips from her receptor and down her cervix arsenic helium said, ‘It smells truthful good.'”

“When Ms. Lively aboriginal objected to this behaviour, Mr. Baldoni’s effect was, ‘I’m not adjacent attracted to you,'” the ailment read.

Lively claimed that a gathering was held to code Baldoni’s behaviour, wherever she alleges that helium mentioned his past “porn addiction” and showed her “nude videos oregon images of women.”

His ineligible squad responded to the claims connected behalf of Baldoni, calling them “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious.”

Last week, Baldoni sued his co-star Lively and her husband, Deadpool histrion Ryan Reynolds, for defamation. Baldoni’s suit seeks astatine slightest $400 cardinal for damages that see mislaid aboriginal income.

That suit came the aforesaid day that Baldoni sued the New York Times for libel, alleging the insubstantial worked with Lively to smear him.

The suit filed successful national tribunal successful New York says the plaintiffs did not privation to record the suit, but that Lively “has unequivocally near them with nary choice, not lone to acceptable the grounds consecutive successful effect to Lively’s accusations, but besides to enactment the spotlight connected the parts of Hollywood that they person dedicated their careers to being the antithesis of.”

In effect to the $400-million defamation and extortion lawsuit, the Gossip Girl star’s ineligible squad said, “This latest suit from Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its associates is different section successful the abuser playbook.”

“This is an age-old story: A pistillate speaks up with factual grounds of intersexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to crook the tables connected the victim,” the connection continued. “This is what experts telephone DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.

“Wayfarer has opted to usage the resources of its billionaire co-founder to contented media statements, motorboat meritless lawsuits, and endanger litigation to overwhelm the public’s quality to recognize that what they are doing is retaliation against intersexual harassment allegations.”

It Ends With Us, based connected the bestselling 2016 caller by Colleen Hoover, was released successful August 2024 and exceeded container bureau expectations with a $50-million debut. It begins arsenic a modular romanticist play earlier taking a acheronian crook into home violence. The fallout successful its aftermath has made large waves successful Hollywood and led to discussions of the attraction of pistillate actors some connected sets and successful media.

—With files from The Associated Press

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