The very public legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni continues to rage on, and in an attempt to counter Lively’s claims of sexual harassment, Baldoni’s legal team has released video footage from the shooting of a scene in It Ends With Us. The nearly ten-minute-long video begins with this message: “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.“

The message continues, “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. 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.” You can check out the video for yourself at Deadline.

However, Lively’s legal team was quick to respond, slamming the move by saying, “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.” The legal team explained their take on the video:

“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.  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. 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. 

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. 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.”

Baldoni has filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively and Ryan Reynolds, alleging defamation, extortion, and other complaints. He’s also filed a libel lawsuit for $250 million against The New York Times for pushing an “unverified and self-serving narrative” in their reporting of the dispute. As much as we might want to, we haven’t heard the last of this, not by a long shot. It really feels like everyone is going to get dragged through the mud by the time this thing is done.

The post Justin Baldoni releases It Ends With Us video to counter Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claims, and she’s quick to respond appeared first on JoBlo.