Blake Lively responds after Justin Baldoni leaks video from ‘It Ends With Us’ set due to harassment case
Blake Lively has responded after Justin Baldoni released a video from the set of It Ends With Us in an attempt to prove his innocence, with Lively’s team claiming that the footage itself is still “damning.”
The ongoing legal battle started in December last year after Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, Jamey Heath, Melissa Nathan, and Jennifer Abel, alleging that they organised an extensive smear campaign against her, alongside facing sexual harassment on the set of It Ends With Us.
In the lawsuit, Lively claims that demands such as “no more showing nude videos or images of women to Lively, no more mention of Baldoni’s alleged previous ‘pornography addiction,’ and no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Lively” were implemented in an attempt to prevent Baldoni’s alleged behaviour from continuing.
On January 16th, Baldoni countersued Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for $400 million, claiming they had attempted to “destroy him” and his reputation. Baldoni then released video footage from the movie set on January 21st to disprove Lively’s claim that he made her uncomfortable by acting inappropriately and telling her she “smells so good.”
Along with the video, Baldoni’s lawyers released a statement, saying the video “refutes Ms Lively’s characterisation of his behaviour” and that “both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene with mutual respect and professionalism.”
However, Lively’s team have since responded to the video, describing it as “damning” as they claim it shows Baldoni acting in the same manner they accused him of in the lawsuit, including allegedly showing him “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.”
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They also claimed that none of the footage was pre-negotiated, “With no discussion or consent in advance and no intimacy coordinator present,” as should be expected with Baldoni’s position as “the director, the head of studio, and Ms Lively’s boss.”
The statement also suggests that Lively’s attempts to move away from Baldoni in the video reflect the behaviour of “any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognize Ms Lively’s discomfort.” This mirrors a previous statement in which Lively’s team alleged extensive misogyny on set stemming from a broader issue within Hollywood.
Still, it seems Baldoni and his team remain poised to handle any further accusations, particularly after also revealing they plan to launch a website which will post more scenes from the set of the movie in an attempt to prove that he has “nothing to hide.”
The additional footage will seek to dispel all of Lively’s accusations, proving what they describe as “consistent with her past behaviour” when she used others to “communicate those threats and bully her way to get whatever she wanted.”
Baldoni has yet to respond to Lively’s latest statement.
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