An intimacy coordinator is weighing in on the It Ends With Us footage that Justin Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, released amid Baldoni and Blake Lively’s legal battle.
In the clip, released on Tuesday, January 21, Baldoni, 41, and Lively, 37, are shown filming a scene in which their characters are dancing at a bar. There is no dialogue in the scene, but Baldoni is mic’d up so you can hear the conversation between the costars.
“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 following videos captured on May 23, 2023, clearly refute Ms. Lively’s characterization of his behavior,” read a statement accompanying the clip. “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.”
Mia Schachter — who did not work on It Ends With Us — spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the headline-making video.
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“There’s two main reasons why people bring on an intimacy coordinator: either simulated sex or nudity. Anything else that could be considered intimate, we’re not always present or required,” Schachter, who has served as an intimacy coordinator on Lessons in Chemistry, Insecure and American Crime Story told the outlet in an interview published on Thursday, January 23. “In a scene like this, it’s really common that you wouldn’t bring on an intimacy coordinator because there’s no simulated sex or nudity, and there’s not even kissing written into the scene.”
A script excerpt featured in the BTS video reads, “Lily and Ryle slow dance in the bar. Patrons around them drinking and watching sports. Completely in their own world.”
It’s unclear if there was an intimacy coordinator present during the scene, but Baldoni’s docs state that the film employed one for the production. Schachter noted that having an intimacy coordinator on set often helps ease awkward moments. “In terms of the hierarchy on a set, [Justin] is in charge. But it can be very murky,” she told THR. “Obviously, [Blake’s] the star, the household name on the project … so she’s not powerless. I would say she has a significant amount of power here. But regardless, he is the director and she’s supposed to take direction from him. I was sort of surprised that this is the clip that his team leaked.”
Schachter continued: “In prep, we would have discussed what we wanted it to look like. … And then I would have a conversation with her about her comfort and what she was OK with doing. For an actor, if they know the plan ahead of time and they’re not caught off guard, they’re often open to trying things. The problem here was that none of this was planned or discussed.”
Lively’s legal team reacted to the video in a statement, telling Us Weekly: “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. 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: “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.”
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Her team concluded: “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.”
Lively’s team has since filed for a cease and desist against Freedman.
Freedman addressed Lively’s team in a statement of his own. “Prior to filing her lawsuit in court, Ms. Lively went to The New York Times in an effort to publicly destroy Justin Baldoni,” he stated. “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.”
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The It Ends With Us legal drama exploded last month when Lively filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni, accusing him of inappropriate on-set behavior and alleging he launched a smear campaign against her. Baldoni refuted her allegations in a lawsuit against The New York Times, accusing the outlet of libel and claiming Lively attempted to shut him out of production on the film.
A spokesperson for The New York Times defended the outlet’s reporting of Lively’s lawsuit in a December 2024 statement to Us. “The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead,” the shared. “Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article. Those texts and emails were also the crux of a discrimination claim filed in California by Blake Lively against Justin Baldoni and his associates.”
The spokesperson went on to note: “We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
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Baldoni also filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and publicist Leslie Sloane, accusing the group of defamation, invasion of privacy and more.
“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,” Lively’s legal team said in a statement to Us about the latest lawsuit. “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.”
