Blake Lively Slams 'It Ends With Us' Co-Star Justin Baldoni's 'Unethical Attempt to Manipulate the Public' After He Drops Raw Footage to Refute Actress' Sexual Harassment Claims
Blake Lively made sure to hit back following the shocking footage.
Jan. 21 2025, Published 7:22 p.m. ET
Blake Lively has hit back at Justin Baldoni after he gave It Ends With Us viewers unedited footage from the film.
Baldoni's legal team dropped raw footage from a dance scene featuring Lively, after the actress claimed he dragged his lips down her neck inappropriately, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Lively hit back at Baldoni's raw footage drop on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Lively's attorneys released a statement, slamming the film's director, Baldoni: "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."
They continued: "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."
"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 co-star, but the director, the head of studio and Ms. Lively’s boss," they added.
The actress accused Baldon's footage of being 'unethical.'
The lawyers 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."
The Hollywood star's team then accused the video of being 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," they concluded.
The 10-minute footage shows Baldoni and Lively during a slow-dancing scene. In her lawsuit, the Gossip Girl star cited this exact moment, accusing Baldoni of making indecent comments about the scent she was wearing and kissing her neck.
Lively claimed Baldoni moved his lips down her neck and told her "it smells so good," which appeared to be debunked at the seven-minute mark.
Their conversation at that point clarified Baldoni's comment about Lively smelling good was in response to her mentioning her spray tan during the romantic dance scene.
Baldoni teased about his beard rubbing off on Lively, and she countered by saying she was likely getting spray tan on him.
The 'Gossip Girl' star recently accused her 'It Ends With Us' co-star Baldoni with sexual harassment.
He then joked, "It smells good," and they both laughed, with Lively clarifying that the scent was most likely from her body makeup.
In Lively's complaint, the 37-year-old previously claimed: "None of this was remotely in character, or based on any dialogue in the script, and nothing needed to be said because, again, there was no sound."
All this comes weeks after Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, with the New York Times amplifying her claims, particularly the "smell" comment.
In retaliation, Baldoni filed a defamation lawsuit against the publication.
However, Baldoni was not done there, as he then sued Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for $400million, alleging she used her celebrity to derail his film and ruin his career.
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Baldoni has since sued Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for $400million for defation.
Additionally, Lively and her team were accused of altering text messages to make it appear as though Baldoni’s publicists were plotting against her, leading to online harassment.
