A Hollywood intimacy coordinator has weighed in on Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni‘s previously friendly working relationship, before things took a drastic turn.
In the new television documentary, He Said, She Said: Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni, which aired on Monday, Mia Schachter pointed out the former coworkers clearly had ‘what felt like a friendship’ before she accused him of sexual harassment, which he denies.
‘From reading their text messages, I do get the sense that, at one point, there was genuine affection between them,’ Schachter, who did not work on the It Ends With Us set, claimed.
‘In my experience, when an actor says, “I don’t need to meet the intimacy coordinator until we’re shooting,” as much as it hinders my process, it does typically indicate that they trust their scene partner,’ Schachter noted. ‘And those texts made me think that at one point, she did feel a lot of trust with him.’
Schachter also reviewed raw production footage of the stars slow dancing for a scene, which Lively alleges shows Baldoni leaning forward and slowly dragging ‘his lips from her ear and down her neck.’
In her lawsuit, her attorney alleged: ‘None of this was remotely in character.’
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A Hollywood intimacy coordinator has weighed in on Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s friendly on-set dynamics, before their working relationship took a drastic turn (the pair seen on the It Ends with Us set)
Additionally, Lively claimed that she suggested to Baldoni they just talk in the scene, in order to avoid kissing him.
Baldoni, however, denied in his countersuit ‘that this scene was filmed in any manner other than pure professionalism’ and claimed Lively was ‘consistently unable to take direction’ and ‘continued to break character’ while shooting.
‘His team seemed to be accusing Blake of trying to direct that scene and undermine his creative vision. I don’t see that,’ Schachter said. ‘I see an actress trying not to kiss her coworker and instead of saying, “I don’t want to do that,” she’s making other suggestions.’
Schachter said Lively was ‘actually pretty considerate’ to suggest they talk instead of possibly ‘humiliating’ him by asking Baldoni to ‘stop trying to kiss’ her.
In December, Lively filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni, who also directed their hit romantic drama It Ends With Us.
Baldoni later followed up by launching a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively, her publicist and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
He also filed a $250 million libel lawsuit against the New York Times for its reporting on Lively’s allegations.Both Lively and Baldoni have denied each others claims, and the New York Times has denied Baldoni’s accusations and requested that his lawsuit against the paper be dismissed.
Last month, Lively unleashed a new salvo in her ongoing legal back-and-forth with Justin Baldoni by claiming that she was not the only woman he made uncomfortable on the set of It Ends With Us.
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In the new television documentary, He Said, She Said: Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni, which aired on Monday, Mia Schachter pointed out the former coworkers clearly had ‘what felt like a friendship’ before she accused him of sexual harassment
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‘From reading their text messages, I do get the sense that, at one point, there was genuine affection between them,’ Schachter, who did not work on the It Ends With Us set said; pictured last year
An amended version of her complaint filed late in New York federal court alleged that she has corroboration of her original claims, and a spokesperson for the actress claimed that ‘other women confided in Blake about their discomfort,’ according to People.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Balondi’s attorney Freedman said: ‘Our clients have been transparent in providing receipts, real time documents and video showing a completely different story than what has been manipulated and cherry picked to the media. Our clients have taken this matter and these issues very seriously notwithstanding the jokes made publicly by the plaintiff and her husband.
‘Her underwhelming amended complaint is filled with unsubstantial hearsay of unnamed persons who are clearly no longer willing to come forward or publicly support her claims,’ he continued. ‘Since documents do not lie and people do, the upcoming depositions of those who initially supported Ms. Lively’s false claims and those who are witnesses to her own behavior will be enlightening. What is truly uncomfortable here is Ms. Lively’s lack of actual evidence.’
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Lively’s attorneys Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb said her amended complaint against Baldoni ‘provides significant additional evidence and corroboration of her original claims.’
They added that it ‘includes previously undisclosed communications’ Lively had with Sony Pictures, Baldoni’s production company Wayfarer Studios and ‘numerous other witnesses.’
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‘In my experience, when an actor says, “I don’t need to meet the intimacy coordinator until we’re shooting,” as much as it hinders my process, it does typically indicate that they trust their scene partner,’ Schachter noted. ‘And those texts made me think that at one point, she did feel a lot of trust with him’ (seen in 2024)
The new version of the complaint reportedly includes an added defamation claim against Baldoni that was not part of the initial document, which was filed on New Year’s Eve.
According to Hudson and Gottlieb, Lively is suing for defamation ‘based on the repeated false statements the defendants have made about Ms. Lively since she filed her original complaint…’
She has also expanded her complaint to add Jed Wallace and his Texas-based crisis PR firm Street Relations, Inc., as a defendant.
Wallace, who has denied playing any part in a smear campaign against the Gossip Girl star, previously filed a $7 million lawsuit against her in response to Lively’s allegation in her initial complaint that his firm ‘weaponized a digital army’ against her on behalf of Baldoni.
She had requested Wallace be deposed in her initial complaint, though he revealed in his subsequent lawsuit earlier in February that the request had been rescinded.
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