Justin Baldoni is making his next move in his ongoing legal battle against Blake Lively.
On Tuesday, Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, announced plans to launch a website to further prove their defense that Baldoni, 40, did not sexually harass Lively, 37, on the set of “It Ends With Us.”
“Justin Baldoni and team have nothing to hide,” Freedman said in a statement to The Post, noting that the raw footage from the movie that Baldoni’s team recently released “proves this.”
“Justin and team have the right to defend themselves with the truth and this is what we will be continuing to show with the upcoming website containing all correspondence as well as relevant videos that directly quash her claims,” Freedman added.
The on-set footage from “It Ends With Us” that is referenced in Freedman’s statement was sent to The Post on Tuesday, and shows Lively and Baldoni slow-dancing as their characters in May 2023.
Baldoni’s legal counsel claimed the footage refutes Lively’s characterization of his behavior on the set of the movie.
In her sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni, Lively claimed that during the “slow dance scene,” Baldoni “leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, ‘it smells so good.’” In the raw footage, Lively can be heard joking that she’s “probably getting spray tan on” Baldoni, who laughs and replies, “It smells good.”
The video also references a charge Baldoni has leveled against Lively, namely that she implied he should get plastic surgery on his nose.
Baldoni’s reps also shared a statement included on a title card at the top of the footage, saying that “both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism.”
Lively’s team slammed Baldoni’s video in a statement to the Post and said the footage is “damning” and “corroborates” her allegations of sexual harassment.
“Releasing this video to the media, rather than presenting it as evidence in court, is another example of an unethical attempt to manipulate the public,” Lively’s team said. “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.”
The legal battle began in Dec. 2024 when Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Commission, in which she made claims of sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign orchestrated by Baldoni. Her allegations were also outlined in a New York Times article.
In response, Baldoni sued the New York Times for $250 million, for libel and false light invasion of privacy over the article on Lively’s sexual harassment allegations. That same day, Lively sued Baldoni for $250 million, alleging he caused her to suffer “severe emotional distress and pain, humiliation, embarrassment, belittlement, frustration and mental anguish” in addition to lost wages.
Baldoni, in return, filed a $400 million countersuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. Baldoni claimed that the couple “bulldozed” over him and took creative control of the movie.
