Cultural journalist
Sony Pictures/Everett/ShutterstockActor and director Justin Baldoni has released clips of a romantic scene from his film It Ends With Us, which he says proves his co-star Blake Lively’s allegations of sexual harassment are unfounded.
However, she responded by saying footage of the couple filming a slow dance was “damning” and supported her claims.
The two stars played a couple in the hit film, released last year, but have since been embroiled in an increasingly bitter legal battle.
Lively, 37, sued Baldoni, 40, in December, accusing him of engaging in “inappropriate and unwelcome behavior” and a smear campaign aimed at “destroying” her reputation. He hit back last week, saying she had made a “deceptive attempt to destroy him.”
On Tuesday, Baldoni’s team released nearly 10 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage to media outlets including the Daily Mail And Variety.
It includes three takes of a scene set in a bar and begins with a caption saying that they “clearly refute” Lively’s allegations of inappropriate behavior and show the two actors “clearly behaving well within the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism. .
Lively’s lawyers said it showed him “repeatedly leaning toward Ms. Lively, attempting to kiss her, kissing her on the forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, brushing her lips with his thumb, petting her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her out of character.”
Every moment “was improvised by Mr. Baldoni, without prior discussion or consent, and without the presence of an intimacy coordinator,” they said.
“Any woman who has been touched inappropriately in the workplace will recognize Ms. Lively’s discomfort.
“They will recognize her attempts at levity to try to deflect unwanted touching. No woman should have to take defensive measures to avoid being touched by her employer without her consent.”
The release of the video was “another example of an unethical attempt to manipulate the public,” they said.
Baldoni’s lawyer said the hollywood reporter his client was exercising “his right to defend himself publicly by presenting real facts and evidence”.
“Ms. Lively wishes very different standards applied to her but fortunately truth and authenticity apply to everyone and can never be wrong,” he said.
What did she say about the scene?
Lively’s lawsuit cited the scene as an example of how Baldoni “ignored well-established industry protocols when filming intimate scenes and exploited the lack of on-set controls to behave inappropriately” .
His legal documents said he did not speak in person and no audio was recorded.
“At one point he leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear down to her neck saying, ‘It smells so good.’
“None of this was vaguely character-related or based on any dialogue from the script, and nothing needed to be said because, again, there was no sound – Mr. Baldoni was caressing Ms. Lively with her mouth in a way that had nothing to do with their roles.
“When Ms. Lively later objected to this behavior, Mr. Baldoni’s response was, ‘I’m not even attracted to you.'”
What did he say about the scene?
His legal documents said Lively was “consistently incapable of following directions” and that she “insisted” that she wanted the characters to talk constantly, which he disagreed with.
When he tried to “encourage her to follow his direction, Baldoni suggested that he and his wife often stared silently into each other’s eyes, to which she responded, ‘Like sociopaths’ and laughed.”
Lively “continued to argue” and “kept breaking character,” which was “extremely confusing to Baldoni.”
He said Lively apologized for the smell of her spray tan and body makeup. “Baldoni responded, ‘It smells good,’ and continued to perform, dancing slowly as he thought his character would with his partner, which requires some physical touch.”
Lively joked about Baldoni’s nose and that he should have plastic surgery, he said.
“Any suggestion that this scene was filmed in any manner other than pure professionalism on the part of Baldoni is unequivocally contradicted by actual evidence,” his documents add.
“Her allegation of sexual harassment is a documented and knowingly fabricated lie.”
What does the video show?
Lively and Baldoni, who was also the film’s director, slow dance in a bar and their audio was recorded. After an initial exchange during which she wonders if they are in the right position, they dance and smile in silence.
He kisses her on the forehead then goes to kiss her on the lips before she apparently hesitates and they continue dancing. She then seems to turn her head, their faces close together and he kisses her cheek.
She tells him, “I think we should talk. I think it’s more romantic if we like… dancing and talking.” He agrees and says “the whole montage is us talking.”
She continues, “Because it’s like when they’re kissing, so you give them what they want to see.”
He replies, “That’s why almost kissing is also good.” She says, “Yeah. But we still talk.”
They continue to dance affectionately, laugh and discuss the scene. He caresses her neck. She tells him that talking is “more romantic.” He says he “just got lost” and that it’s “no problem talking most of the time” because viewers “will never know (what’s being said) in slow motion.”
He tells her “I know you and Ryan (Reynolds, her husband) talk all the time”, but he and his wife Emily like to look at each other, joking that “you would find it terrifying”. She laughs and jokes, “I’d say, ‘Oh no, I found a sociopath.’
He asks the cameraman to film their lips “very close”, to which she agrees but adds that they should “start talking” and “not give them (the kiss)”. He agrees that they should “exercise restraint.”
They continue dancing with their foreheads and noses touching, to which she starts laughing because she feels “so curious.” He jokes that “my nose is so big” and she laughs that the movie should “stop” and “take care of that”, adding: “Just kidding.”
In the next shot, he appears to kiss her neck and then says “Am I giving you a beard today?” She laughs and replies, “I’m probably giving you spray tan.” He strokes the other side of her neck and says, “It smells good.” She adds: “Well, it’s not that, it’s my body makeup.” They continue dancing and he yells cut.
A third shot shows their feet and bodies as they dance. The opening caption says “these are the three filmed takes of the sequence”.
