As the legal saga between It Ends with Us costars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni continues, Baldoni, who also directed the 2024 film, has leaked an alleged portion of the script of the movie in an effort to defend himself.
Baldoni and his team have sued Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, accusing them of misrepresentation of facts in her sexual harassment suit.
In Touch obtained the alleged page from the script that Baldoni and his attorneys submitted in court as evidence. The page details a scene in It Ends with Us that has Baldoni's character, Ryle, "scoop" up Lively's Lily character in the movie. In her complaint, Lively said there was no such scene in the movie that required her character to be picked up by Baldoni's character.
Lively Claims She Was "Degraded" by Baldoni
In Lively's federal suit against Baldoni, the actress accuses him of sexual harassment onset as well as making comments about her weight. The complaint said that Baldoni "routinely degraded" her "by finding back-channel ways of criticizing her body and weight."
The A Simple Favor star in her filing claimed that "a few weeks before filming began and less than four months after (she) had given birth to her fourth child, (she) was humiliated to learn that (Justin) secretly called her fitness trainer, without her knowledge or permission and implied that he wanted her to lose weight in two weeks."
The Actress Says Baldoni Tried to Encourage her to Lose Weight
Lively claimed Baldoni spoke with her trainer and asked because he was concerned about having to pick up the actress in one of the movie's scenes. However, Lively claims "But there was no such scene." She also alleges she came down with strep throat and Baldoni, as a "gift" said he would put her in touch with an expert that he had on retainer to help her with remedies to fight off her illness. The Gossip Girl star said upon filling out paperwork with Baldoni's specialist, she realized that it was a weight-loss specialist.
In the suit, Lively said she felt, "once again, that (Justin) was shaming her for her body and weight." She also alleges that Baldoni hired a crisis PR firm to smear her name publicly after she voiced concerns about his onset behavior.
The Director Says He Was Preparing for a Scene in the Movie
Baldoni, in his suit, said he asked his personal trainer, who is allegedly close friends with Lively, to help prepare him for a scene in which he lifts the actress. Baldoni contends he asked the trainer how much Lively weighed so that he could train his back muscles to prepare for the scene.
Baldoni's attorney wrote, "This was important to avoid injury - not only to (Justin), who has suffered from lifelong back injuries (multiple bulging discs and chronic pain) but also to (Blake), if the lift could not be completed successfully and safely." The script page leaked by Baldoni shows that his character was to "scoop" up Lively's character.
Lively Contends There Was No Such Scene
"(Blake) would later claim in her complaint that this scene did not exist, however, as evidenced by the script pages and also a video in which (Justin) is rehearsing the scene with a body double the scene was very real," Baldoni's lawyers note. Baldoni also denies that he recommended a weight loss specialist to Lively.
Both Lively's suits against Baldoni and his counter-suit against the actress and Reynolds are ongoing. A federal judge has set a date of March 9, 2026, for the start of the sexual harassment trial.
It Ends with Us is streaming on Netflix.