The battle over claims of what occurred on the set of It Ends With Us continues as Blake Vigorous’s authorized staff responded to Justin Baldoni’s staff releasing uncooked, unedited footage from the movie following Vigorous’s sexual harassment claims.
The ten-minute video, shared by Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman on Tuesday, consists of one scene the place the actors’ characters Lily Bloom (Vigorous) and Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni) are sluggish dancing. (The scene was referenced in Vigorous’s lawsuit in opposition to her co-star, accusing him of “behaving inappropriately” and claiming he “ignored well-established trade protocols in filming intimate scenes.”)
The footage reveals Baldoni, 40, and Vigorous, 37, filming a scene with no dialogue, talking about their spouses and joking about his nostril and her spray tan.
In a press release following the discharge of the footage, Vigorous’s staff says that “each body of the launched footage corroborates, to the letter,” what Vigorous included in her lawsuit, filed on Dec. 20, 2024, in regards to the particular scene.
“Justin Baldoni and his lawyer might hope that this newest stunt will get forward of the damaging proof in opposition to him, however the video itself is damning,” Vigorous’s authorized staff stated of their assertion.
“The video reveals Mr. Baldoni repeatedly leaning in towards Ms. Vigorous, making an attempt to kiss her, kissing her brow, rubbing his face and mouth in opposition to her neck, flicking her lip together with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and speaking together with her out of character. Each second of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni with no dialogue or consent upfront, and no intimacy coordinator current.”
In addition they point out that Baldoni was ready of energy because the movie’s director and Vigorous’s boss.
“The video reveals Ms. Vigorous leaning away and repeatedly asking for the characters to only speak. Any lady who has been inappropriately touched within the office will acknowledge Ms. Vigorous’s discomfort,” her authorized staff stated. “They may acknowledge her makes an attempt at levity to attempt to deflect the undesirable touching.
“No lady ought to must take defensive measures to keep away from being touched by their employer with out their consent,” her legal professionals stated. “This matter is in lively litigation in federal court docket. Releasing this video to the media, moderately than presenting it as proof in court docket, is one other instance of an unethical try to control the general public. It’s also a continuation of their harassment and retaliatory marketing campaign.”
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The just lately launched footage opens with a press release from Baldoni’s authorized staff: “The next movies captured on Could 23, 2023, clearly refute Ms. Vigorous’s characterization of his behaviour.”
“The scene in query was designed to indicate the 2 characters falling in love and longing to be shut to at least one one other. Each actors are clearly behaving nicely throughout the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism. These are all three takes filmed in sequence,” the assertion learn.
Each actors have been participating in small speak, picked up by their mics. At one level, Vigorous prompt that it will be “extra romantic” if their characters spoke to one another whereas they danced.
Once they put their heads nearer collectively whereas dancing, Vigorous made a joke about the way it felt “so nosey,” in reference to their noses touching. Baldoni replied, saying, “I do know. And my nostril is so large.”
“Sure. I hoped we may deal with this. It’s not too late,” Vigorous responded.
Later, Baldoni stated that he was in all probability “getting beard” on Vigorous whereas they danced so intently. She responded by saying she was in all probability getting spray tan on him.
“It smells good,” Baldoni replied.
Vigorous’s lawsuit claimed Baldoni sexually harassed her on the set of It Ends With Us and talked about a “sluggish dance scene” with the actor. She alleged that throughout the filming of the scene Baldoni “leaned ahead and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he stated, ‘It smells so good.’”
“When Ms. Vigorous later objected to this behaviour, Mr. Baldoni’s response was, ‘I’m not even interested in you,’” the criticism learn.
Vigorous claimed {that a} assembly was held to deal with Baldoni’s behaviour, the place she alleges that he talked about his previous “porn dependancy” and confirmed her “nude movies or photos of girls.”
His authorized staff responded to the claims on behalf of Baldoni, calling them “fully false, outrageous and deliberately salacious.”
Final week, Baldoni sued his co-star Vigorous and her husband, Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds, for defamation. Baldoni’s swimsuit seeks at the least $400 million for damages that embody misplaced future revenue.
That lawsuit got here the identical day that Baldoni sued the New York Occasions for libel, alleging the paper labored with Vigorous to smear him.
The lawsuit filed in federal court docket in New York says the plaintiffs didn’t need to file the swimsuit, however that Vigorous “has unequivocally left them with no selection, not solely to set the report straight in response to Vigorous’s accusations, but in addition to place the highlight on the components of Hollywood that they’ve devoted their careers to being the antithesis of.”
In response to the $400-million defamation and extortion lawsuit, the Gossip Woman star’s authorized staff stated, “This newest lawsuit from Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its associates is one other chapter within the abuser playbook.”
“That is an age-old story: A lady speaks up with concrete proof of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser makes an attempt to show the tables on the sufferer,” the assertion continued. “That is what consultants name DARVO. Deny. Assault. Reverse Sufferer Offender.
“Wayfarer has opted to make use of the sources of its billionaire co-founder to situation media statements, launch meritless lawsuits, and threaten litigation to overwhelm the general public’s means to grasp that what they’re doing is retaliation in opposition to sexual harassment allegations.”
It Ends With Us, primarily based on the bestselling 2016 novel by Colleen Hoover, was launched in August 2024 and exceeded field workplace expectations with a $50-million debut. It begins as a typical romantic drama earlier than taking a darkish flip into home violence. The fallout in its aftermath has made main waves in Hollywood and led to discussions of the remedy of feminine actors each on units and in media.
—With information from The Related Press
