Justin Baldoni filed a huge $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively on Thursday. The thing is a monster, 179 pages that serve as both the basis of a legal battle AND as his public response to her own claims.
We’ve noticed that a lot of folks on Blake’s side argue all he does in his suit is try to prove she’s a “mean girl” — and that he doesn’t actually say anything about the worst of what she claimed. Remember, Blake accused Justin of sexually harassing her on the set of It Ends With Us. What does he have to say about that??
Related: Blake Lively’s Game Of Thrones Text Is An All-Timer Whether You Love Or Hate Her!
Well, a lot actually…
Contents [hide]
- 1 Breastfeeding Barge-Ins
- 2 Having To Be Nude On An Open Set
- 3 Calling Her “Sexy”
- 4 K-I-S-S-I-N-G
- 5 Talking Sex
Breastfeeding Barge-Ins
First, there was the accusation Justin barged in on her when she was breastfeeding. He actually responded to that one in the previous lawsuit. But to recap, she said Baldoni “repeatedly entered” her trailer while she was undressed — specifically she said the director walked in on her as she was topless while “breastfeeding.”
His response? She invited him! He even has text message proof!
In the new suit, he further argues that was the nature of their relationship at that time, he was not viewed as some kind of pervert — and that “she freely breast-fed in front of him”:
“Lively was so close and comfortable with Baldoni that she freely breast-fed in front of him during meetings. She took photos of him holding and soothing her crying baby in her penthouse. They laughed deliriously during late-night writing sessions. All of these events took place after the alleged sexual harassment. Lively’s accusations seemed to come out of the blue.”
Having To Be Nude On An Open Set
Blake also accused Baldoni of treating her nudity carelessly, ignoring when it was supposed to be a closed set when her nude body was exposed! She points to the scene where her character gives birth, saying she was nude save for a small piece of modesty cloth over her genitalia.
His rebuttal? He says she wasn’t nude at all — she was wearing a hospital gown but below that was a “pregnancy suit” — a prosthetic covering to make it look like the audience was looking at her pregnant belly but was actually made from rubber. In his suit, he details:
“Later in her complaint, Lively alleges that during a scene (the “Birthing Scene”) she was “mostly nude with her legs spread wide in stirrups and only a small piece of fabric covering her genitalia,” and that there were “non-essential persons” present. This allegation is knowingly false. To begin with, to describe Lively as “mostly nude” and “naked from below the chest down” is dishonest. Lively was wearing black briefs and a pregnancy suit that covered her midsection, and her top was covered by a hospital gown. Her legal complaint deliberately suggests she was wearing “a small piece of nude fabric glued around [her] genitalia” by stating this is “generally” what female actors use to “provide some minimal privacy without disturbing the shot…”, leaving the reader to believe Lively was only wearing this small fabric.”
In a footnote he adds:
“If Lively is referring to her character being “mostly nude” (i.e. her pregnancy suit was exposed), her statement is misleading, and still false. The only nude body part exposed were her legs.”
We mean… this makes sense, right? She wasn’t really pregnant, so she must have been wearing a prosthetic. Does that count as nudity?
He also says she’s straight-up wrong about who was on set that day:
“Moreover, film footage clearly demonstrates that the set was not chaotic, as she alleges, and only “essential” individuals (e.g. film crew, talent) were present for the scene and doing their jobs. Importantly, Lively knowingly and falsely alleges that the Film’s financier was present during these scenes, and insinuates he was watching her nude (which he had no desire to do). He was not even on set during the filming of that scene. He arrived later, merely stopping by for a brief moment amid his busy business schedule, and was present during the filming of a scene in which Lively’s character spoke with a female OB-GYN doctor – a scene in which she was fully clothed.”
Hmm. The guy wasn’t there AND she wasn’t nude? If that’s the case, would you agree about her claim being misleading?
Calling Her “Sexy”
Blake complained Justin was unprofessional on set, calling her or other women “sexy.” In her legal filing, she alleged:
“Mr. Baldoni often referred to women in the workplace as ‘sexy.’ When they expressed discomfort, Mr. Baldoni would deflect or try to pass it off, which undermined Ms. Lively and others’ concerns. For example, on one occasion that Ms. Lively observed, he told a female cast member that her leather pants looked ‘sexy’ when she arrived to the set. When she rebuffed his comment because she was uncomfortable, rather than apologizing, he brushed it off with ‘I can say that because my wife is here today.’ Ms. Lively felt embarrassed witnessing this kind of commentary, as did others.”
She also said he got pervy about her maternity clothes:
“On another day, Ms. Lively wore a low-cut dress to facilitate breast feeding but had it covered up with a coat. When the jacket briefly popped open at one point to reveal the dress, Mr. Baldoni commented about how much he liked her outfit, which flustered Ms. Lively. Later that day, Mr. Baldoni pressured Ms. Lively (who was in her pre-approved wardrobe) to remove her coat in front of the crew and multiple background actors in a packed bar. He said wanted to see her ‘onesie’ under the coat because it was zipped low to reveal her lace bra. Consistent with past practice, he said, ‘I think you look sexy’ in a tone that made her feel ogled and exposed.”
Baldoni doesn’t deny using the word “sexy” — instead he uses a kind of flow-of-traffic argument. He says Blake used the word regularly, implying to him this was not out of bounds:
“Lively herself set the tone for personal discussions on set, including what language was acceptable. For example, on one occasion while filming a restaurant scene, Lively sat on the floor in painfully expensive shoes while discussing with a group of male cast and crew how “sexy” her shoes were. Lively had no issue using the word “sexy” herself, but apparently took note both times Baldoni said the word in her presence.”
Hmm. Just because she was using it about herself doesn’t make it OK necessarily. Context is key here.
K-I-S-S-I-N-G
One of Blake’s complaints was that Justin went too far in their kissing scenes. She said he added unscripted kissing, lingered too long on their kisses, etc.
But according to Justin, Blake was the one who can be seen on video “initiating unchoreographed kissing”:
“Moreover, it was Lively who engaged in unchoreographed kissing scenes. One scene, again captured on camera, exhibits Lively pulling Baldoni in to kiss her. It is clear Lively was initiating unchoreographed kissing: In one take, she pulled Baldoni in and kissed him once; in another twice, and the number of kisses, entirely initiated by Lively, changed at her whim.”
“Her whim.” Hmm.
Talking Sex
Blake also noted in her complaint that she had to demand the movie hire an intimacy coordinator AND said Baldoni was talking to her about his sex life, her sex life with Ryan, etc. Very unprofessional stuff.
However… As he said in his suit against The New York Times, it was Blake who refused to meet with the intimacy coordinator early. See, they’d had one the whole time, which Justin proves Blake knew in text messages she sent saying she was fine not meeting her to plan sex scenes in advance.
Justin complains that left him in the “awkward position” of having to relay the intimacy coordinators suggestions to her, which included talking about sex rather frankly:
“Contrary to Lively’s knowingly false claims, it was Lively who refused to meet with the intimacy coordinator to plan out their scenes, putting Baldoni in the awkward position of meeting alone with the intimacy coordinator and later relaying sex scene suggestions and plans to Lively in the intimacy coordinator’s absence. These meetings often took place, at Lively’s insistence, in the couple’s home, and often while Lively’s husband was present. Lively’s method of work was unconventional and uncomfortable for Baldoni. To suggest Baldoni was the one who created this scenario is knowingly false.”
Baldoni claims he planned before the film began production to plot out the sex scenes “with simultaneous collaboration and input from both Lively and the intimacy coordinator” — and blames Blake for making the process less comfortable for everyone. And, he adds, it doesn’t make sense that she demanded an intimacy coordinator since she ignored everything she’d said anyway:
“In the end, Lively rejected all of the intimacy coordinator’s proposals to rewrite the scenes herself.”
He blasts Blake for using these work discussions — unusual as they may be, especially for any job other than theirs — in a misleading way in her sexual harassment complaint, implying he was casually bringing up sex with her like a creepy boss:
“Most egregiously, Lively later used these circumstances, created entirely by her, to accuse Baldoni of insisting Lively do “uncomfortable” or “gratuitous” scenes – scenes that were in fact proposed by the intimacy coordinator and by all accounts very typical asks of any actor performing simulated sex scenes. This is well-documented in handwritten notes Baldoni took during meetings with the intimacy coordinator and later read to Lively. Lively, in her recent allegations, mispresented these ideas as personal, despite the fact that they were workshopping scenes for their characters. Lively’s inability to discern the basic premise of the divide between collaborating on a film and personal interactions with her co-star and director is woven throughout her claims of sexual harassment.”
He says the specific example she used, that he personally added “graphic content, including a scene in which Ms. Lively was to orgasm on camera” wasn’t true — as it wasn’t even his idea, it was directly from the intimacy coordinator:
“This is false. During a creative meeting, which Lively requested to take place in her home, Baldoni read to her his notes from the intimacy coordinator, including a suggestion that Lively’s character orgasm during the scene, similar to the book. Lively remarked, “oh no, I’m too old for that” and Baldoni offered another suggestion instead, also from his notes from the meeting with the intimacy coordinator.”
Wait, that scene was also from the book?! Hmm. Inneresting how that fits with his claim that she never read the best-seller!
What do YOU think of these rebuttals? Do they convince you at all? Or are they just trying to weasel out of awful accusations??
[Image via Sony/YouTube.]
The post But What Does Justin Baldoni Say About All The Sexual Harassment Allegations?? appeared first on Perez Hilton.
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