Blake Lively‘s legal team has responded to the new It Ends With Us video footage released by Justin Baldoni’s attorney.
“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. 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 to Us Weekly on Tuesday, January 21. “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.”
The statement continued: “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 costar, but the director, the head of [the] studio and Ms. Lively’s boss.”
The message also noted that in the clip Lively, 37, was “leaning away and repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk.”
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“Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognize Ms. Lively’s discomfort,” the statement concluded. “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.”
Lively’s legal team also slammed Baldoni, 40, — who also directed the film — and his legal time for releasing the video to the public rather than keeping it in court.
“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,” the statement read. “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.”
In response to the most recent statement and claims from Lively’s legal team regarding the footage, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman told Us, “Prior to filing her lawsuit in court, Ms. Lively went to The New York Times in an effort to publicly destroy Justin Baldoni. When Mr. Baldoni exercises his right to publicly defend himself by putting forth actual facts and evidence, for Ms. Lively and team this instantly becomes morally and ethically wrong. Ms. Lively wants very different standards to apply to her but fortunately, truth and authenticity apply to everyone and can never be wrong. Looking at the video and the evidence to come, I can understand why Ms. Lively would now, not want this to play out in public.
The footage, which was obtained by Us earlier on Tuesday, features the costars romantically slow dancing and laughing in character for a montage with no dialogue during the film. The duo could, however, be heard exchanging ideas for the scene as they swayed back and forth.
“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,” a statement at the start of the video read. “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.”
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In addition to releasing the video footage, Baldoni’s lawyer also shared plans to create a website that will include “relevant videos” and “correspondence” between Baldoni and Lively.
“Justin and team have the right to defend themselves with the truth,” Freedman’s statement read. “And this is what we will be continuing to show with the upcoming website containing all correspondence as well as relevant videos that directly quash her claims.”
Lively and Baldoni’s ongoing legal drama began last month when she filed a lawsuit against the director. In her filing, Lively claimed that Baldoni sexually harassed her and created a hostile work environment while on set of It Ends With Us.
Baldoni, for his part, has vehemently denied the allegations. He subsequently sued the New York Times for $250 million following the outlet’s reporting of Lively’s claims against him.
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Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios also filed a lawsuit last month directly against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and Lively’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, seeking $400 million in damages. In the paperwork, Baldoni accused the group of civil extortion, defamation, false light invasion of privacy and more.
After news broke of Baldoni’s legal filing, Lively broke her silence with a statement via her legal team.
“This latest lawsuit from Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its associates is another chapter in the abuser playbook. This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim. This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender,” the message read. “Wayfarer has opted to use the resources of its billionaire co-founder to issue media statements, launch meritless lawsuits, and threaten litigation to overwhelm the public’s ability to understand that what they are doing is retaliation against sexual harassment allegations.”
