Blake Lively has blasted the “unethical” video Justin Baldoni shared from their film, It Ends With Us, after she accused him of sexual harassment.
On Tuesday, Baldoni released unedited footage of the duo filming three takes of a romantic scene in the drama.
The 40-year-old actor, who has firmly denied Lively’s sexual harassment allegations, claimed the video refutes her claims.
It shows Baldoni leaning in to almost kiss Lively several times, nuzzling her neck, and touching her lip with his thumb, while the audio captures her repeatedly telling him it would be “more romantic” to “just talk.”
The actress, 37, has responded by saying the clip is “damning” and shows she was “uncomfortable” during the scenes.
Her legal team claimed none of the intimacy shown in the video was choreographed and that it constituted “unwanted touching” without Lively’s “consent.”
“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,” her lawyers said in statement to DailyMail.com.
They claimed that “every frame” of the footage corroborates what Lively described in her sexual harassment lawsuit filed last month.
“Every moment of this was improvised by Mr Baldoni with no discussion or consent in advance, and no intimacy coordinator present.
Lively’s legal team claims her “leaning away” from Baldoni during the takes was not acting.
“Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognize Ms. Lively’s discomfort,” they said.
“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.”
Her team added that Baldoni releasing the video to the media is an “unethical attempt to manipulate the public” and a “continuation of their harassment and retaliatory campaign.”
The Standard has contacted representatives for Baldoni and Lively for comment.
In Lively’s lawsuit filed last month, Lively claimed Baldoni sexually harassed her during a dance scene by dragging his lips down her neck and telling her “it smells so good.”
The video Baldoni shared shows him nuzzling her neck. At a later point, he asks, “if I’m getting beard on you.”
Lively laughs and says, “I’m probably getting spray tan on you,” to which he replies “it smells good.”
Lively then says: “Well it’s not that, it’s my body makeup.”
Baldoni shared the footage with DailyMail.com from his production company Wayfarer and his lawyer Bryan Freedman, who has previously said the actor has “nothing to hide.”
After Lively sued Baldoni for sexual harassment, the New York Times published an article based on her filing that accused him of orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her in the media.
Baldoni then sued The Times for defamation and last week filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, accusing them of trying to harm his career.
