The bitter legal drama with “It Ends With Us” co-stars Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively has taken a new turn.
On Tuesday, Baldoni’s attorney and his public relations team reportedly leaked to the Daily Mail behind-the-scenes footage of Baldoni and Lively shooting a scene together. According to his attorney, this footage allegedly disproves the allegations Lively leveled against Baldoni in her sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit last month.
The footage is a scene between Lily (Lively) and Ryle (Baldoni) — the central couple of the Colleen Hoover book-to-movie adaptation — slow dancing in a bar in the early stages of their relationship. In the short clip, the actors are heard speaking to each other about how to portray the romance between their characters. Lively suggests it’s more “romantic” if they continue to talk instead of kissing.
During a moment in the clip, Baldoni is shown asking Lively, “Am I getting beard on you today?” Lively laughs and replies, “I’m probably getting spray tan on you,” to which Baldoni says, “It smells good.”
In Lively’s lawsuit, she alleges that in this scene, Baldoni did not act in character as Ryle but “instead, he spoke to Ms. Lively out of character as himself.” The suit claims “he leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, ‘It smells so good.'”
This alleged improv moment led to Baldoni “caressing Ms. Lively with his mouth in a way that had nothing to do with their roles.” When Lively rebuked his behavior, Baldoni allegedly said, “‘I’m not even attracted to you.’”
But Baldoni’s team said the footage “refutes Ms. Lively’s characterization” of Baldoni’s behavior.
Lively’s attorney said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, “Every frame of the released footage corroborates” Lively’s allegations and that the videos are “manufactured media stunts” by the Baldoni camp.
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