Justin Baldoni was heard talking about Blake Lively in a new voice recording as their legal feud over It Ends With Us continued.
Lively, 37, starred in It Ends With Us opposite Baldoni, 40, who also directed the film, which was released theatrically last August and is currently streaming on Netflix.
After months of rumors, Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, alleging that Baldoni improvised unwanted kissing scenes and created a hostile work environment through sexual harassment and more.
Just a day later, The New York Times published an article revealing that Baldoni had hired a crisis PR team to “bury” Lively and destroy her credibility, after which Lively sued Baldoni and his company Wayfarer Studios later that day.
Baldoni responded by filing a $250 million defamation suit against The New York Times over their report which he said promoted an “unverified and self-serving narrative.”
Now, a new Baldoni ballot has been released in which the actor claims Lively ordered him and his loved ones to “go to a basement” during an It Ends With Us premiere.
Justin Baldoni was heard talking about Blake Lively in a new voice recording as their legal feud over It Ends With Us continues
Now, a new Baldoni ballot has been released in which the actor claims Lively ordered him and his loved ones to “go to a basement” at a premiere of It Ends With Us – pictured at the film’s New York premiere in August 2024
In the clip, which was released Tuesday on The Megyn Kelly Show, Baldoni, speaking to his “dream team” who edited the film, said, “On what could have been one of the greatest nights of my life career-wise, I was literally to over an hour in the basement with all my friends and family because I wasn’t allowed to be seen, she didn’t want me near her or the rest of the cast.
‘So they took me off the carpet and sent us to the basement, there we sat together, my friends and family, the people who love me most.
“We start laughing at the ridiculousness of this whole thing and I realize that on an evening that should have been so materialistically joyful, I was in the basement with the people who love me the most and we were all happy and laughing because none of those things don’t matter, none of that.
‘That’s not why we’re in the business, to attend a premiere and be so celebrated, we do it because we are artists and we believe in what we do and we want to make art that touches people’s souls and can move people.
“And that’s what we did, that’s what you both did and I believe that will follow us, truth will prevail and light and love will win.”
DailyMail.com has contacted Lively’s representatives for comment.
Elsewhere in the chat, Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman responded to Lively’s claim that she was harassed by Baldoni, leading to his removal from the premiere.
He said: “If she (Lively) was sexually harassed to such an extent in this film and in this situation… she would not have returned to the film. They sat down and discussed what her complaints were.
He said: ‘I was literally sent to the basement with all my friends and family for over an hour because I wasn’t allowed to be seen, she didn’t want me near her or the rest of the cast’ Vividly seen with co- star Brandon Sklenar and Ryan Reynolds at the New York premiere
Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman responded to Lively’s claim that she was harassed by Baldoni, which led to his removal from the premiere. He said: ‘If she (Lively) was sexually harassed to such an extent in this film and in this situation… she would not have returned to the film’
‘The unfortunate thing is that she didn’t actually read the book and therefore didn’t understand what the book was about of that complaints are things like: you know he went into her caravan while she was breastfeeding, which has text messages indicating complaints.
“That Jamey Heath, Justin’s partner, had shown her pornography, if you look at the actual complaint that they filed, it says that is pornography, but what Jamey Heath showed her was a still video of a home birth because she had a discussed the childbirth scene and You know this isn’t pornography.
“When you get into the specific allegations, I mean the film was about domestic violence. this movie was about sex scenes with rough behavior, domestic violence and such serious issues. Every step of the way, to the extent that anyone felt uncomfortable with the film in any way, Justin took ownership of it.”
He added that his team will “put every single document on a website for the public to read and come to their own conclusions.”
‘and they can determine whether or not there was sexual harassment, whether there was a smear campaign or retaliation, because we have evidence and receipts that absolutely and unequivocally show that this is not true.”
This comes after Freedman claimed he has proof of Lively’s alleged “pattern of bullying” on It Ends With Us amid the pair’s vicious lawsuits against each other.
Freedman says he has ‘evidence’ showing Lively is ‘threatening to take over the film’ in a new statement to People on Tuesday, January 7.
Freedman (pictured 2024) says he has “receipts” showing Lively is “threatening to take over the movie” in a new statement to People on Tuesday, January 7
He said: “It is painfully ironic that Blake Lively accuses Justin Baldoni of weaponizing the media when her own team orchestrated this vicious attack by sending The New York Times crudely redacted documents before she had even filed the complaint.
“We are releasing all evidence that will demonstrate a pattern of harassment and threats to take over the film.
“None of this should come as a surprise because Blake Lively, consistent with her past behavior, used other people to communicate those threats and bully her into getting whatever she wanted. We have all the receipts and more.”
DailyMail.com has contacted Blake Lively’s representatives for comment.
This comes after lawyers for Lively condemned Baldoni for launching further attacks on his client.
Lively’s legal team insists to People that Lively’s “serious claims of sexual harassment and retaliation” are in fact “supported by concrete facts.”
“This is not a ‘feud’ born out of ‘creative differences’ or a ‘he said/she said’ situation,” the statement from Lively’s lawyers began.
“As alleged in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and as we will prove in the lawsuit, Wayfarer (Studios) and its associates engaged in unlawful, retaliatory astroturfing against Ms. Lively for simply attempting to protect herself and others in a film set,” the lawyers said. added.
“And their response to the lawsuit was to launch more attacks against Ms. Lively since her filing,” they continued.
“Sexual harassment and retaliation are illegal in every workplace and industry,” the attorneys added, outlining some “classic tactics” used by abusers.
“A classic tactic to deflect attention from allegations of this type of misconduct is to ‘blame the victim’ by suggesting they provoked the behavior, did it to themselves, misunderstood the intentions or even lied.” , the statement continued.
‘Another classic tactic is to reverse the victim and perpetrator, and imply that the perpetrator is actually the victim. These concepts normalize and trivialize allegations of serious misconduct,” they said.
“Most importantly, media statements are not a defense to Ms. Lively’s legal claims. We will continue to pursue her claims in federal court, where the rule of law determines who prevails, not exaggerations and threats,” the statement said.
Lively alleged in her lawsuit that Baldoni ccaused her to suffer “financial harm” that “continues to this day.”
She claims that her hair care brand, Blake Brown, and her two drinks ranges, Betty Buzz and Betty Booze, both suffered huge sales losses as a result of the setback she suffered.
Lively alleged in her lawsuit that Baldoni’s smear campaign caused her to suffer “financial damages” that “continue to this day.”
The lawsuit alleges that Blake Brown’s sales dropped by as much as 78 percent after the “social manipulation campaign” began.
It said: “Based on internal sales forecasts, the sudden and unexpected negative media campaign against Ms. Lively has reduced retail sales of Blake Brown products by 56-78 percent.”
The lawsuit added: “This dramatic decline was completely inconsistent with the high satisfaction scores that Blake Brown products achieved in the significant consumer testing conducted prior to launch or their initial success post-launch.”