Newly released footage provides a glimpse into a scene involving It Ends With Us co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.
Blake Lively initiated legal action against Justin Baldoni in December 2024, accusing him of sexual harassment and participating in a ‘smear campaign’ against her. Earlier this month, the A Simple Favor actress filed another lawsuit citing harassment and retaliation, claiming Baldoni engaged in inappropriate conduct on set, including during a scene where their characters share a slow dance.
Baldoni has refuted all allegations, and his company countered by filing a lawsuit against Lively last week. On January 21, his legal representatives made footage from the contested scene publicly available.
In her latest lawsuit, Lively claims Baldoni ‘leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, ‘It smells so good.”
She further alleges Baldoni was ‘caressing Lively with his mouth in a manner unrelated to their roles.’
In response, Baldoni’s team has released a clip comprising three takes from the sequence, which they assert is the complete footage of the scene, according to Variety.
The footage shows Lively and Baldoni slow-dancing and conversing, with the audio apparently not necessary for the scene. They debate whether to ‘talk’ during the scene or become ‘lost’ in the moment.
Lively expresses her belief that conversation adds to the ‘romance’ of the moment, leaving viewers to wonder ‘what are they saying.’
Baldoni responds, “Well, we have no issue talking most of the time,” and notes that viewers will ‘never know’ their conversation due to the scene being played in ‘slow motion.’
He also mentions Lively’s real-life partner, Ryan Reynolds, saying they ‘talk all the time.’
Baldoni reflects on his relationship with his partner Emily, mentioning moments where they end up staring at each other for extended periods, which he jests Lively might find ‘terrifying.’ She responds, “Yeah, I’d be like, ‘Oh no, I found a sociopath.'”
He calls Lively and Reynolds’ relationship ‘cute,’ to which she retorts, “It’s more than cute.”
Baldoni comments on his ‘big’ nose when Lively describes how ‘nosey’ the scene is. Lively adds: “Yes, I was hoping that we could address this. […] Just gotta shut down. Gotta call an insurance month and just deal with that.”
In another part of the scene, the interaction intensifies with the pair nose-to-nose as Baldoni leans closer.
Baldoni asks, “Am I getting beard on you today?”
Lively replies she’s ‘probably getting spray tan’ on him, to which Baldoni responds: “It smells good.”
Baldoni’s legal team stated alongside the footage: “Both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism.”
Lively’s team, however, argues that the footage supports her claims and is ‘damning’ of Baldoni.
Their statement asserts: “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.”
Additionally, Lively’s team criticized the release of the footage as ‘an unethical attempt to manipulate the public.’