Justin Baldoni’s legal team released new video footage to shed light on his behind-the-scenes conflict with co-star Blake Lively.
The video, released on Tuesday, January 21, was an effort to refute Lively’s claims of having been sexually harassed by the director-co-star.
Lively’s team quickly fired back by saying the release of the footage worked in her favor and clearly showed “discomfort” and “unwanted touching” during the shooting of a scene.
Highlights
- Justin Baldoni released new raw footage from the 'It Ends With Us' set to refute sexual harassment allegations against him .
- His legal team shared a message about the scene, which featured Baldoni and Blake Lively's characters slow dancing in a pub.
- “Both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism,” said Baldoni’s legal team.
- Lively's team fired back after the release of the footage and said it shows her "discomfort" during the filming.
The new 10-minute video from the It Ends With Us set was released days after Baldoni filed a $400 million lawsuit on January 16 against the actress, her husband Ryan Reynolds and their publicist, claiming defamation, extortion, and more.
Justin Baldoni released new raw footage from the It Ends With Us set to refute sexual harassment allegations against him
Image credits: Araya Doheny/Variety/Getty Images
Capturing the film’s two characters Lily and Ryle (played by Lively and Baldoni), the video shows them slow-dancing in a bar as they were “falling in love.” Extras were seen watching a sports game and cheering in the background.
The scene in question was mentioned in the lawsuit filed by Lively against the director in December 2024, in which she accused him of sexually harassing her.
“Ms. Lively’s complaint alleges that during a scene Mr. Baldoni and Ms. Lively were filming for a slow dance montage, Mr. Baldoni was behaving inappropriately,” read a statement included by Baldoni’s legal team in the recently released video.
Image credits: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic/Getty Images
“The following videos captured on May 23, 2023, clearly refute 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,” the statement continued.
“Both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism. These are all three takes filmed of the sequence.”
Image credits: extratv
Viewers were then given a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes environment on the It Ends With Us set and the interactions between the two stars, who were having out of character conversations while filming the slow-dancing scene.
The two artists were heard speaking about their spouses, Ryan Reynolds and Emily Baldoni in the scene, which was initially intended to have no dialogues.
“Both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism,” said Baldoni's legal team
Image credits: extratv
The Gossip Girl alum was also repeatedly heard telling her director that she thought it would be “more romantic” if they were captured talking in the scene.
At one point, when their heads were close to each other, Lively was seen pulling back and giggling as she said, “I feel so ‘nosey.’ I mean it's just like noses.”
“I know. And my nose is so big,” Baldoni said.
The Gossip Girl alum then appeared to suggest he should get a nose job.
“Yes, I was hoping that we could address this. It’s not too late. Just gotta shut down. Gotta call an insurance month, and then just deal with that,” she said.
“I feel so ‘nosey.’ I mean it's just like noses,” the Gossip Girl alum was heard saying in the raw footage
Image credits: extratv
In another take, the Jane the Virgin alum joked about probably “getting beard” on her as they were filming the scene, to which she replied, “I’m probably getting spray tan on you.”
“It smells good,” he then said.
Baldoni’s lawsuit mentioned the same scene and noted that Lively “took them out of character” and incorrectly claimed the takes were filmed without sound.
Image credits: Netflix
“Lively took them out of character again and began to joke about Baldoni’s nose, which he laughed off and joked in turn, even as Lively joked that he should get plastic surgery,” the lawsuit stated. “Lively incorrectly alleges that this scene was filmed without sound. Baldoni was wearing a microphone, and the entire exchange is captured on camera.”
In his lawsuit, Baldoni accused Lively of taking them “out of character” while filming the slow dancing scene
Image credits: extratv
Netizens quickly took sides after the watching the behind-the-scenes video, with Baldoni-supporters saying: “IT ENDS WITH BLAKE.”
“Omg Blake is constantly trying to direct over Justin,” one said while another wrote, “At this point, I think she’s gaslighting all of us. We saw the video Blake. Give up. Drop the lawsuit. Say you were hormonal because you just gave birth and you misinterpreted. That would be a better excuse. That way people will forgive you someday. She is so delulu.”
Image credits: Netflix
“Is she delusional?? Did we watch the same clip?? She really really thinks she cannot be touched in any capacity because she has 'dragons,'” wrote another. “And she thinks she has this in the bag huh? Omg lol I can't with her.
Others said the video had “Blake caught in another lie.”
“Good job he had a microphone, another lie from BL,” one said.
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“That's how girls bully. They say something and then play it off. If he told her that her eyes were really hooded and she needed to fix it, she would have been pissed,” another said. “It felt like she wanted to be difficult and do everything opposite of what he said. She is so full of herself. There was nothing inappropriate.”
On the other hand, some felt Lively was visibly “uncomfortable” in the scene.
“She looks uncomfortable while still trying to remain professional and do her job. But that doesn’t prove sexual harassment went down,” one said. “He is the actor and director at the same time. The lines are blurry. Was he being touchy touchy to make the scene more believable or was he just taking advantage of his job as a director/actor to touch Blake lively. This video is definitely more favorable to Justin.”
Baldoni-supporters slammed Lively and claimed she was “gaslighting all of us” after the BTS footage was released
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“I’m uncomfortable watching this because I can tell she is so uncomfortable,” another wrote. “For whatever reason that might be — but she seems very uncomfortable, talking, fidgeting and not into the moment. Could’ve been things that happened before this that contributed to that. He seems very comfortable, but I’m not sure I’d call what we see in this video harassment. Hard to say without context of what happened before and/or after.”
“Do we know if he [has] all the video or just parts that make him look better,” asked another. “As women, a lot of time we laugh it off because we are taught not to make a scene.”
Image credits: Netflix
Following the release of the video, Lively’s team clapped back and said it showed the Age of Adaline actress feeling “discomfort” and “leaning away” from him.
“Mr. Baldoni was not only Ms. Lively’s co-star, but the director, the head of studio, and Ms. Lively’s boss. The video shows Ms. Lively leaning away and repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk,” the statement said.
Lively’s team fired back and said the video captured “attempts at levity to try to deflect the unwanted touching”
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“Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognize Ms. Lively’s discomfort,” continued the statement. “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.”
In her own lawsuit filed in December, Lively mentioned the filming of “a slow dance scene for a montage in which no sound was recorded.”
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Baldoni “leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, ‘It smells so good,’” read the lawsuit, as per documents obtained by Page Six.
The lawsuit claimed he was “caressing” her “with his mouth in a way that had nothing to do with their roles.”
“When Ms. Lively later objected to this behavior, Mr. Baldoni’s response was, ‘I’m not even attracted to you,'” the lawsuit said.
“Blake caught in another lie,” one netizen said after watching the below video released this week
Image credits: extratv
Rumors about conflict between the two stars have been swirling for months, and the controversy took a legal turn after Blake filed a legal complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment, creating a hostile work environment during the movie’s production, and orchestrating a retaliatory social media campaign to tarnish her reputation.
On December 31, Baldoni sued in Los Angeles County Superior Court, accusing The New York Times of libel for its story on Lively's allegations. This was the same day Lively sued Baldoni in the Southern District of New York.
She claimed Baldoni, the film’s production company Wayfarer Studios, and others executed “a carefully crafted, coordinated, and resourced retaliatory scheme to silence her, and others, from speaking out.”
Baldoni's attorneys filed a second lawsuit on January 16, accusing Lively of a number of civil charges, including civil extortion, defamation, and interference with contractual relations.
Her husband Reynolds was also mentioned in the lawsuit for trying to steal authority on the film's production from Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios.
Some viewers believed Baldoni “was definitely in character” and demanded an apology from Lively
