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Over the course of a month, animated blake and Justin Baldoni have been embroiled in a legal battle over various claims of sexual harassment, extortion, defamation and more.
Earlier this week, Baldoni’s team unedited published material from the set of “It Ends With Us,” which he claims refutes Lively’s previous sexual harassment allegations.
The video, shared by Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, and obtained by Fox News Digital, reportedly addresses the actress’ claims about a slow dancing scene.
In it on December 20 sexual harassment presentation Obtained by Fox News Digital, Lively claimed that Baldoni “leaned forward and slowly trailed his lips from her ear to her neck while saying, ‘It smells so good,'” while filming a slow dance montage scene.
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Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni’s body language in raw scene is “tense” but difficult to detect malice, experts say. (Getty Images)
However, Baldoni insisted The comment was made in regards to Lively’s own admission about her spray tan.
In the unedited video of the scene, Baldoni snuggled into Lively’s neck and jokingly asked, “Am I going to grow a beard for you today?” She laughed and said, “I’m probably spray tanning you.”
Baldoni then said, “It smells good,” to which Lively responded, “Well, it’s not that. It’s my body makeup.”
“The following videos captured on May 23, 2023 clearly refute Ms. Lively’s characterization of her behavior,” read a statement shared at the beginning of the video. “The scene in question was designed to show the two characters falling in love and longing to be close to each other. Both actors clearly behave well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism.
“These are the three filmed takes of the sequence.”
Lively’s legal team claimed the raw video is “damning evidence” and “corroborates” her sexual harassment allegations.
On January 21, Baldoni’s team released raw footage from the set of “It Ends With Us” that they claim refutes Lively’s sexual harassment allegations. (José Pérez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
Brenda ReyAn intimacy coordinator who was not involved in the film said, “Intimacy is a story in itself, and the way we interact with each other in intimacy says a lot about a person and their relationship with each other.”
In this particular scene, King explained how he would have handled the situation.
“I would have liked to take Blake out of this scene and say, ‘Hey, I see you’re not present in this scene. I noticed you’re digressing, you’re talking about how you want to talk.’ You don’t want to get kissed.
“It seems like his shoulders are very high. They’re tense,” King said. “I would say something like, ‘Hey, how do you feel about his ideas about talking and being more intimate? Do you think there’s a way to create intimacy through your voice? And do you think we could clear up some distance between his heads? “If there’s any discomfort with you guys being so close, let’s find other ways to feel intimate.”
“It seems like he’s trying very hard to eliminate or desexualize the scene,” he added. “And it’s unfortunate.
Lively’s team responded by stating that the raw video is “damning evidence” and “corroborates” her sexual harassment allegations. (José Pérez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images)
“It seems like his shoulders are very high. They are tense.”
“At the same time, I would say I don’t see him doing anything wrong,” he continued. “He’s definitely not sensing what’s going on in his body… There’s a mismatch between the two of them, they seem to have creative differences as well as differences in how they’re trying to achieve or avoid this intimate moment.”
Film expert and producer-actor Scott Hamm Dueñas said that while it’s clear Lively felt “uncomfortable” in the scene, he questioned whether Baldoni’s actions crossed the line into sexual harassment.
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“She definitely feels uncomfortable,” Hamm Dueñas told Fox News Digital. “Does that add to sexual harassment to make her feel uncomfortable? Especially when you can say, ‘Hey, I’m an actor.'” You know what you’re signing up for when you do it, but there’s a line. “It’s all in the communication.”
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Justin Baldoni sued Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for defamation. (David Buchan/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images)
“They should know before they start, especially the level they are at,” he added. “They should have this figured out before the camera rolls. So, we know what we’re doing, we know what she’s comfortable with, what he’s comfortable with, and there are no surprises.”
Psychotherapist and human behaviorist Robi Ludwig agrees.
“To me, it seemed like he was trying to get the best moment for his character, and if she felt uncomfortable, that could be true too. Just because someone feels uncomfortable doesn’t mean they’re actually being harassed,” Ludwig explained. .
“You may feel uncomfortable, but it’s a strange thing in acting because it’s almost like you know reality was imitating art. Two of them do it in the movie. It’s uncomfortable, it’s abusive, and for some people, do they feel like that? How do they act?” Were they treated in real life? What I saw didn’t speak to me about abuse, but his style and style is like oil and water and seems to have carried over into real life.
Michelle English, a licensed clinical social worker, told Fox News Digital that it’s difficult to detect malicious behavior without knowing what the conversation was before and after the scene.
Blake Lively demanded a gag order be issued against Justin Baldoni’s legal team during their ongoing court battle. (Getty Images)
“Just within the parameters of this clip, without the surrounding context and additional information to navigate potential off-camera conflicts, it’s very difficult to know if there is any malice involved,” English told Fox News Digital.
“From the video alone, it is difficult to determine whether Blake is visibly uncomfortable,” he added. “Body language associated with discomfort, such as turning away, crossing arms, or creating additional space, may not occur if the actor is focused on acting out the scene. Subtle indicators, such as vocal tone or microexpressions of tension, could suggest restlessness. , but they are “It is not always seemingly apparent. “It’s also possible that any discomfort you experienced was internal and not visible at the time.”
“For me, my feeling was that he was trying to get the best moment for his character, and if she was uncomfortable, that could be true too. Just because someone is uncomfortable doesn’t mean they’re actually being harassed.”
Before releasing the raw footage, Baldoni submitted a Demand for 400 million dollars against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, accusing them of civil extortion and defamation.
In the lawsuit, Baldoni claimed that Lively “refused to meet with the intimacy coordinator” to go over intimate scenes.
This put Baldoni in “the awkward position of meeting alone with the intimacy coordinator and then relaying sex scene suggestions and plans to Lively in the intimacy coordinator’s absence,” the lawsuit states. “These meetings were often held, at Lively’s insistence, at the couple’s home and often while Lively’s husband was present. Lively’s method of working was unconventional and uncomfortable for Baldoni. Suggest that Baldoni was the one who created this scenario is consciously false.
“As a result, many sex scenes were not written with the collaboration and simultaneous input of Lively and the intimacy coordinator, as Baldoni had long intended.”
Baldoni claims Lively refused to meet with an intimacy coordinator. (José Pérez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
In his lawsuit, filed in December, Animated and detailed accusations of sexual harassmentretaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and more made by Baldoni and film producer Jamey Heath in a complaint filed first with the California Department of Civil Rights and then in federal court.
Regarding the unedited video, Lively’s legal team stated that it is “damning evidence” and “corroborates” her allegations of sexual harassment.
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“Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt preempts 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,” Lively’s legal team said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
“The video shows Mr. Baldoni repeatedly leaning toward Ms. Lively, attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, smacking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking to she out of place.
“Every moment of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni without discussion or prior consent and without an intimacy coordinator present. Mr. Baldoni was not only Ms. Lively’s co-star, but also the director, the head of the studio and Mrs. Lively’s boss.
“The video shows Ms. Lively leaning in and repeatedly asking the characters to simply talk. Any woman who has been touched inappropriately in the workplace will recognize Ms. Lively’s discomfort. They will recognize her attempts at lightness in dealing to deflect unwanted contact. “No woman should have to take defensive measures to avoid being touched by her employer without her consent.
Fox News Digital’s Lauryn Overhultz and Ashley Papa contributed to this report.
