Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni's body language in unedited scene is 'tense' but hard to detect malice: experts
2025-01-26
Category: entertainment

Over the course of a month, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have been entangled in a legal battle over various claims of sexual harassment, extortion, defamation and more.&nbsp; Earlier this week, Baldoni's team released unedited footage from the set of "It Ends With Us" that it claims refutes Lively's previous accusations of sexual harassment.&nbsp; The video, shared by Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, and obtained by Fox News Digital, allegedly addresses the actress's claims about a slow dance scene. In her Dec. 20 sexual harassment filing obtained by Fox News Digital, Lively claimed Baldoni "leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, ‘It smells so good,'" while filming a slow dance montage scene.&nbsp; BLAKE LIVELY'S 'IT ENDS WITH US' COSTARS BRANDON SKLENAR, JENNY SLATE 'ADMIRE HER BRAVERY' AMID LAWSUIT  However, Baldoni insisted the comment was made in regard to Lively's own admission about her spray tan.&nbsp; In the video of the unedited scene, Baldoni snuggled into Lively's neck and jokingly asked, "Am I getting beard on you today?" She laughed and said, "I'm probably getting spray tan on you." Baldoni then stated, "It smells good," to which Lively responded, "Well, it's not that. It's my body makeup." "The following videos captured on May 23, 2023, clearly refute Ms. Lively's characterization of his behavior," a statement shared at the beginning of the video said. "The scene in question was designed to show the two characters falling in love and longing to be close to one another. Both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism. "These are all three takes filmed of the sequence." Lively's legal team claimed the unedited video is "damning evidence" and "corroborates" her allegations of sexual harassment.  Brenda King, an intimacy coordinator who was not involved in the film, said, "Intimacy is such a story in its own, and the way we interact with each other in intimacy tells you so much about a person and their relationship with the other." In this particular scene, King broke down how she would've handled the situation.&nbsp; "I would've liked to have pulled Blake out of this scene and been like, 'Hey, I see you not present in this scene. I noticed that you're deflecting, you're talking about how you want to be talking. You don't want to be kissing.'&nbsp; "It looks like her shoulders are really high up. They're tense," King said. "I would say something like, 'Hey, how do you feel about her ideas about talking and being more intimate, and do you think there's a way to create intimacy through your voice? And do you think we could clear some distance between your heads? If there's any discomfort with you guys being that close, let's find other ways to feel intimate.' "It seems like she's trying really hard to remove or desexualize the scene," she added. "And it's unfortunate.  "It looks like her shoulders are really high up. They're tense." "At the same time, I would say, I don't see him doing anything wrong," she continued. "He's definitely not perceiving what's going on in her body. … There's a mismatch where they both have, they appear to have creative differences on top of differences in how they're trying to achieve or avoid this intimate moment." Film expert and producer-actor Scott Hamm Duenas said that while it's clear Lively is "uncomfortable" in the scene, he questioned whether Baldoni's actions crossed the line of sexual harassment.&nbsp; LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS "She definitely feels uncomfortable," Hamm Duenas told Fox News Digital. "Now does that cross to sexual harassment to make her uncomfortable? Especially when you can say, 'Hey, I'm an actor.' You know what you're signing up for when you're doing it, but there is a line. It is all in communication." WATCH: JUSTIN BALDONI RELEASES UNEDITED ‘IT ENDS WITH US’ FOOTAGE FEATURING BLAKE LIVELY   "They should know before they started, especially the level that they're on," he added. "They should have this worked out already before the camera rolls. So, we know what we're doing, we know what she's comfortable with, what he's comfortable with, and there are no surprises." Psychotherapist and human behaviorist Robi Ludwig agreed.&nbsp; "To me, my vibes were he was trying to get the best moment for his character, and if she felt uncomfortable, that too could be true. Just because somebody feels uncomfortable doesn't mean that they're actually being harassed," Ludwig explained. "You can feel uncomfortable, but it's a weird thing with acting because it's almost like you know reality was imitating art. Two of them at it in the movie. It's uncomfortable, abusive and, for some people, do they then feel that that's how they were treated in real life? What I saw didn't speak to me of abuse, but his style and her style. It's like oil and water. And it seems to have carried over into real life." Michelle English, a licensed clinical social worker, told Fox News Digital it's difficult to detect malicious behavior without knowing what the conversation was before and after the scene.&nbsp;  "Within the parameters of this clip alone, without the surrounding context and the additional information to navigate possible off-camera conflicts, it is very hard to tell if there is any malice going on," English told Fox News Digital.&nbsp; "From the video alone, it is challenging to determine if Blake is visibly uncomfortable," she added. "Body language associated with discomfort — such as turning away, crossing arms or creating additional space — may not occur if the actor is focused on performing the scene. Subtle indicators, like vocal tone or microexpressions of tension, could suggest unease, but these are not always outwardly apparent. It's also possible that any discomfort she experienced may have been internal and not visible at the time." "To me, my vibes were he was trying to get the best moment for his character, and if she felt uncomfortable, that too could be true. Just because somebody feels uncomfortable doesn't mean that they're actually being harassed."  Before releasing the unedited footage, Baldoni filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, accusing them of civil extortion and defamation.&nbsp; In the suit, Baldoni claimed Lively "refused to meet with the intimacy coordinator" to go over intimate scenes. This put 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," the suit states. "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. "As a result, many sex scenes were not written with simultaneous collaboration and input from both Lively and the intimacy coordinator, as Baldoni had long intended."&nbsp;  In her suit, filed in December, Lively detailed allegations of sexual harassment, retaliation, intentional affliction of emotional distress, negligence and more made by Baldoni and film producer Jamey Heath in a complaint first filed with the California Civil Rights department and later in federal court. Regarding the unedited video, Lively's legal team claimed it is "damning evidence" and "corroborates" her allegations of sexual harassment. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER "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 damning. Every frame of the released footage corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Lively described in Paragraph 48 of her Complaint," Lively's legal team said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.&nbsp; "The video shows Mr. Baldoni 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. "Every moment of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni with no discussion or consent in advance and no intimacy coordinator present. Mr. Baldoni was not only Ms. Lively’s co-star, but the director, the head of studio and Ms. Lively’s boss. "The video shows Ms. Lively leaning away and repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk. Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognize Ms. Lively’s discomfort. They will recognize her attempts at levity to try to deflect the unwanted touching. No woman should have to take defensive measures to avoid being touched by their employer without their consent." Fox News Digital's Lauryn Overhultz and Ashley Papa contributed to this report. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP