For several months now, the legal battle between the two actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, stars of the film “It Ends With Us,” has been going on. It all started with a complaint filed last Dec. 20 by Blake Lively accusing the director and star of the film of sexual harassment and running a smear campaign against her.
As a result of the allegations made against him, Baldoni sued Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds in a New York court last week, for defamation, invasion of privacy and also accusing them of extortion, demanding about $400 million in damages.
Now, with the recent release of a video that captures the film’s two leads, Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively in a moment of behind-the-scenes “effusion,” Baldoni may be plunged into a compromising situation. Lively’s attorney stated in this regard, “Every frame of the film corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Lively described in paragraph 48 of her complaint.”
As People reports, statements from the actress’ attorney claim that, “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, brushing her lips with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells and talking to her, outside of his character’s performance.
The actress’s lawyer further pointed out in this regard that, “The video shows Ms. Lively walking away and repeatedly asking the characters to just talk. Every woman who has been touched inappropriately in the workplace will recognize Ms. Lively’s discomfort. She will recognize her attempts to try to deflect unwanted touches. No woman should have to take defensive measures to avoid being touched by her employer without her consent.” The attorney concludes, “Every moment of this behavior by Mr. Baldoni was improvised without any discussion or prior consent, and without the presence of an intimacy coordinator.”
