Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni: Hollywood on trial?

The conflict between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni began on the set of the movie "It Ends With Us." Reports of tension between the actors surfaced in August of last year. In December, it was revealed that Lively accused her co-star of sexual harassment and organizing a smear campaign to tarnish her reputation. Her lawsuit outlined several allegations, including inappropriate behavior by the director on set and abuse of power. Baldoni responded with a countersuit for defamation, demanding $400 million. He claims to be the victim and accuses Lively and her husband of an attempt to take over the film project.

The evidence in the case includes court documents, text messages, and recordings from the set. Baldoni's team recently published footage of the dance scene during which, according to Lively, the harassment occurred. Her testimony indicates that Justin "leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, ‘it smells so good.'" Lively believed that the microphone was not on during the filming of the scene. However, "Daily Mail" published a video where viewers can clearly hear the film partners' interactions and behavior. The material was provided by Baldoni's production company Wayfarer and his lawyer Bryan Freedman, who had previously stated that Baldoni has "nothing to hide."

The recordings appear to show friendly relations between the stars, who discuss how to play the scene (Blake prefers more dialogue than displays of affection), smile at each other, joke about the size of Justin's nose, and discuss spending time with their significant others. She mentions that she and Reynolds "talk all the time," while Baldoni admits he and his wife prefer to just stare at each other. The actress then bursts into laughter, and Baldoni compliments her and her husband, calling them "cute."

The comment about the 37-year-old's "good" smell was a response to her remark about possibly leaving a self-tanning mark on her colleague during a close scene. The conversation seems casual, and the star does not appear to be uncomfortable about the comment on how she smells.

Lively has already reacted to the video published on Tuesday. Her legal team claims the footage is further evidence that she did not feel comfortable during the filming of the dance scene.

Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt will get ahead of the damaging evidence against him, but the video itself is [condemning]. Every frame of the released footage corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Lively described in Paragraph 48 of her Complaint, reads the star's representation's statement sent to "Daily Mail."

The lawyer cites the video, showing the director was "repeatedly leaning in toward Ms. Lively, attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, flicking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her out of character, with no discussion or consent in advance, and no intimacy coordinator present."

The actress's representative points out that what is seen on the recording was not previously discussed with her.

They also remind everyone of Justin's strong position.

Mr. Baldoni was not only Ms. Lively’s co-star, but the director, the head of studio and Ms. Lively’s boss.

Blake's legal team claims her "leaning away" from Baldoni during the scene was not an act, and the clips show how she was "repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk."

According to the representatives of Ryan's wife, sharing the recordings with the media "is another example of an unethical attempt to manipulate the public" and "a continuation of their harassment and retaliatory campaign."

We are continuing our efforts to require Mr. Baldoni and his associates to answer in court, under oath, rather than through manufactured media stunts, the lawyer concludes in the statement.

Whose side are you on?