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As Justin Baldoni and Blake LivelyHe said the legal battle rages on, with his lawyer releasing footage from the shooting It ends with us that Baldoni’s team believes proves his side of the story.
Footage obtained My Weekly on Tuesday, Jan. 21, began with a statement that read: “Ms. Lively’s complaint alleges that during a scene where Mr. Baldoni and Ms. Lively were filming a slow dance montage, Mr. Baldoni acted inappropriately. The following videos captured on May 23, 2023 clearly refute the characterization of Ms. Lively’s behavior. The scene in question was designed to show two characters falling in love and yearning for closeness. Both actors clearly behave well within the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism. That’s all three shots of the sequence.’
In the clip, Baldoni, 40, and Lively, 37, were smiling and laughing as they filmed a dialogue-free dance scene.
As the two began dancing in the clip, Lively said she thought it would be “more romantic” if she and Baldoni were talking in the scene.
“I know you and Ryan (Reynolds) always talking,” Baldoni told Lively, referring to her husband. “Oh my God, we are not silent,” she replied.
Baldoni then shared that he and his wife, Emilythey have moments where they stare at each other for five minutes. He laughed heartily at the remark as Baldoni added, “I think you’d find it terrifying.” Baldoni replied: “I would say, ‘Oh no, I found a sociopath’.”
When Baldoni said she thought Lively and Reynolds were “cute,” she replied, “I think it’s beyond cute. He added: “I think it’s amazing.”
When Lively and Baldoni were kissing in the scene, she started laughing. “I feel so puffed up. I think it’s like just noses,” she said, to which Baldoni replied, “I know. And my nose is so big.” Lively added, “Yeah, I was hoping we could work it out. It’s not too late. Just shut it down. I have to call the insurance month and deal with it. Just kidding.”
Baldoni replied, “No, that’s true.” That’s why we hired Jenny Slate as well, our noses match.” (Baldoni and Slate played siblings in the film, which was based on Colleen Hoover’s novel of the same name.)
Before the nearly 10-minute video ended, the pair started the scene again. In this shot, Baldoni nuzzled Lively’s neck and asked if Lively had a “beard.” With a laugh, she replied, “I guess I’ll get a tan on you,” to which he said, “It smells good.” Lively added, “Well, that’s not it.” It’s my body makeup.”
After the video was first posted Daily Mail Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, said in a statement Tuesday Our: “Our received this video from legal counsel Bryan Freedman who has been on record many times telling the public that Justin Baldoni and his team have nothing to hide and this video proves it again. Justin and the team have the right to defend themselves with the truth and we will continue to show this on the upcoming website containing all correspondence and relevant videos that directly refute her claims.”
After the video was released, Lively criticized Baldoni and his team for deciding to drop it publicly.
“Justin Baldoni and his attorney may be hoping this latest stunt will preempt the damaging evidence against him, but the video alone 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 told Us on Tuesday. “The video shows Mr. Baldoni repeatedly leaning toward Ms. Lively, trying to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, thumbing her lip, caressing her, telling her how beautiful she smells. and speak rudely to her.”
The statement continued: “Every moment of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni without prior discussion or consent and without the presence of an intimacy coordinator. Mr. Baldoni was not only Ms. Lively’s actor, but also Ms. Lively’s director, studio head, and boss.”
“The video shows Ms. Lively leaning away and repeatedly asking the characters to just talk. Any woman who has been touched inappropriately in the workplace will recognize Ms. Lively’s discomfort,” the statement read. “They will recognize her attempts at frivolity to try to ward off unwanted touches. No woman should have to take defensive measures against being touched by an employer without her consent.”
“This matter is in active litigation in federal court. Another example of an unethical attempt to manipulate the public is releasing this video to the media instead of presenting it as evidence in court. It is also a continuation of their bullying and retaliation campaign. While they focus on misleading media narratives, we focus on the legal process. We continue our efforts to hold Mr. Baldoni and his associates accountable in court, under oath, rather than through fabricated media stunts,” the release concluded.
Months after rumors of a rift between Lively and Baldoni surfaced on set It ends with usshe filed a lawsuit accuses him of sexual harassment. He denied all the charges.
The aforementioned dance scene is one of many encounters between the costars discussed in the documentaries. In Lively’s December 2024 lawsuit against Baldoni, she claimed about the same scene: “At one point, he leaned forward and slowly moved his lips away from her ear and down her throat as he said, ‘It smells so good.’ None of this was remotely in character or based on any dialogue in the script, and there was no need to say anything because, again, there was no sound — Mr. Baldoni stroking Mr. Lively’s mouth in a way that he had no business doing. to do with their roles. When Ms. Lively later objected to the behavior, Ms. Baldoni’s response was, ‘I’m not even attracted to you.'”
At Baldoni’s filing earlier this month against Lively, Reynolds and her publicist, Leslie SloaneBaldoni was referring to the same scene – but he had a different way.
“Live apologized for the smell of her tan and body makeup.” Baldoni replied, ‘It smells good,’ and continued to act, slow dancing as he believed his character would be with his partner, which required a certain amount of physical touch,” the filing said.
According to Baldoni, “Live again took them out of character and started joking about Baldoni’s nose, which he laughed at and alternately joked about, just as Lively joked that he should get plastic surgery,” his lawsuit said.
In the same lawsuit, the footnote referenced Lively’s December 2024 lawsuit, where she claimed he body-shamed her on set. The footnote read: “Live claims Baldoni made inappropriate comments about her physical appearance. It was the other way around.”
While Lively stated in her submission that the “slow dance scene” for the montage had “no sound” recorded, Baldoni claimed in her submission that he was wearing a microphone during the scene and noted that the exchange was caught on camera.
“Any suggestion that this scene was filmed in anything other than the pure professionalism of Baldoni is clearly disputed by the actual evidence,” Baldoni’s filing said. “Her allegations of sexual harassment are a documented and knowingly fabricated lie.”
Referring to Lively’s alleged “derogatory comments” about his appearance, Baldoni claimed in the lawsuit that he “publicly expressed uncertainty about an episode of his ‘Man Enough’ podcast and discussed the episode while exploring the topic of body dysmorphia.”
“Lively’s comment about Baldoni’s nose is also caught on camera,” the lawsuit said. “Instead of writing down a list of grievances against Lively, Baldoni deleted it and went on with the scene.”