Baldoni vs. Lively - "BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: Blake Lively's Shocking Harassment Claims Rock Hollywood"

0:03 Callarogashark Media. Good morning, I'm read Carter, and welcome to Celebrity Trials, your daily dose of courtroom drama. Picture this Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, two Hollywood stars who should have been celebrating a fifty million dollar box office hit. Instead, they're locked in a four hundred million dollar legal battle that's become one of the most explosive celebrity feuds in recent memory. Tomorrow, Blake Lively will sit for her deposition, where she'll have to answer tough questions under penalty of perjury about allegations that could destroy careers and reputations. But before we get to that moment of reckoning, we need to understand how we got here. How did a romantic drama about overcoming domestic violence become ground zero for allegations of workplace harassment. How did two people who should have been Hollywood's power couple become locked in legal warfare that makes the dep heard trial look like a disagreement over dinner plans. This is the story of how a dream project became a nightmare, how creative differences became sexual harassment allegations, and how a book about ending cycles of abuse created an entirely new cycle of destruction. Because sometimes the most toxic relationships aren't the ones on screen, they're the ones behind the camera. Let me paint you the picture of how this all began, Act one, the Dream Project. In

1:35 July twenty nineteen, Justin Baldoni posted on Instagram with the kind of excitement that only comes from a passion project. The former Jane the Virgin star had just acquired the film rights to Colleen Hoover's novel It Ends with Us, and he had big plans. This wasn't going to be just another romance movie. This was going to be his statement film about domestic violence, produced through his company Wayfair Studio. Now, let me tell you something about Justin Baldoni's public persona. At this time, he'd spent years positioning himself as the sensitive male feminist, the guy who understood women's issues and wanted to tell their stories authentically. He had a podcast called Man Enough about redefining masculinity. He gave ted talks about vulnerability in Hollywood circles. He was the good guy, the one who actually got it. So when he decided to adapt a novel about a woman breaking free from an abusive relationship. It seemed like perfect casting, Justin Baldoni, male feminist champion, bringing an important story to the big screen.

2:38 What could go wrong? Well, as it turns out, quite a lot. The project sat in development for years Hollywood development hell is real, folks, and even passion projects with the best intentions can languish. But by early twenty twenty three, things were finally moving. Baldoni had his script, he had his financing, and he needed his leading lady, enter Blake Lively. In January twenty twenty three, Lively was cast as Lily Bloom, the protagonist who must navigate an abusive relationship and find the strength to leave. It was Baldoni's choice to cast her, and here's where the story gets interesting. Author Colleen Hoover had actually wanted Baldoni to play the abusive husband, Ryle Kincaid, but Baldoni decided he wanted to direct instead and cast himself as Ryle. Anyway, think about that for a moment.

3:33 The man who positioned himself as a champion of women's stories chose to both direct the film and play the abusive husband. Nothing says I understand power dynamics quite like giving yourself ultimate creative control while literally playing the role of an abuser. Blake Lively, fresh off years of Gossip Girl reruns and a successful lifestyle brand, seemed like perfect casting. She had the star power to open a movie, matic chops to handle the serious subject matter, and the public image of someone who could authentically portray a strong woman overcoming adversity. Brandon Skleenar was cast as Atlas, the childhood friend who represents safety and genuine love. Jenny Slat and Hassan Minhaj rounded out the supporting cast. On paper, this looked like a recipe for success. A meaningful story, talented cast, and a director who claimed to understand the importance of the subject matter. Principal photography began in May twenty twenty three in Hoboken, New Jersey. The early photos from set showed Lively in Baldoni looking comfortable, professional happy. Social media posts suggested everything was going smoothly. Blake was sharing behind the scenes glimpses, talking about how honored she was to bring this story to life. But then something happened that should have been everyone's first red flag. Production shut down in June due to the Writer's Guild strike. Now the strike affected everyone in Hollywood, So that wasn't unusual. What

5:04 was unusual was what allegedly happened when filming resumed in January twenty twenty four, Because, according to court documents we now have access to, that January restart wasn't just about getting back to work. It was about addressing what Blake Lively's legal team describes as a hostile work environment that nearly derailed production of the film Act two when Paradise became Hell January fourth, twenty twenty four. Remember that date because it's when this story transforms from a typical Hollywood production into something much darker. According to Lively's legal filings, a meeting took place that day at her and Ryan Reynolds's New York penthouse. Present were Lively, Reynolds, Baldoni, producer Jamie Heath, other producers, and a representative from Sony Pictures, the film's distributor. This wasn't a casual catch up meeting.

6:00 This was an emergency session to address what Lively alleges were serious problems that had emerged during the initial filming period. The meeting was called, according to court documents, to address the hostile work environment that nearly derailed production of the film. Let me repeat that the work environment was so bad that it nearly shut down the entire production. Now, Baldoni's team paints a very different picture of this meeting. In their version, they went to Blake and Ryan's penthouse expecting to discuss resuming filming the next day. Instead, they claimed they were blindsided by Lively in Reynolds, who presented what they call a list of grievances. Baldoni's lawyers alleged that Reynolds launched into a tirade berating Baldoni and what Baldoni later described as a traumatic encounter. But here's what we know from Lively's complaint about what allegedly happened during that initial filming period that made this meeting necessary, And folks, some of this is disturbing, so consider this your content warning.

7:01 According to the legal documents, Lively alleges that Baldoni engaged in a pattern of inappropriate behavior that included showing her and other cast and crew members nude videos and images of women, including his wife. She claims he improvised kissing that wasn't in the script during scenes she alleges he discussed his sex life in inappropriate detail, and made comments about her weight and her deceased father. The most specific allegation involves a slow dancing scene between their characters. According to Lively's complaint, this scene had no dialogue in the script, but during filming, Baldoni allegedly leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said it smells so good. When Lively later objected to this behavior, she claims Baldoni's response was, I'm not even attracted to you now. Baldoni's team has since released video footage of that and they claim it shows normal professional interaction, with both actors talking and joking during the take, but Lively's lawyers maintained that the footage actually corroborates her account, showing Baldoni attempting to kiss her while Lively is leaning away and repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk.

8:20 The Truth about what happened in that scene will likely be crucial to this case, but what's not in dispute is that whatever occurred during that initial filming period was serious enough to require a high level intervention meeting involving studio executives. The result of that January fourth meeting was what's referred to in court documents as the Protections for Return to Production, essentially a set of agreements designed to ensure that filming could continue safely. Both sides agreed to these protections, which tells us that Sony Pictures, a major studio with millions of dollars on the line, took the concern seriously enough to mandate specific safeguards. In a moment Act three, the cracks begin to show. Welcome back to celebrity trials. I'm Red Carter, and we're examining how the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni collaboration went from dream project to legal nightmare. So filming resumed in January twenty twenty four with those protection agreements in place. But if you thought that solved the problem, you'd be wrong, because while they managed to finish the movie, the tensions between Lively and Baldoni never really went away. They just got better at hiding them. The film wrapped production, post production proceeded, and It Ends with Us was scheduled for an August twenty twenty four release. The marketing campaign began, and that's

9:52 when everyone started to notice something was off. You see folks. Movie marketing follows predictable patterns. The director and stars do interviews together. They appear on red carpets together. They post on social media about each other. It's all very coordinated and friendly, even when the people involved can't stand each other. Hollywood is built on the ability to fake chemistry for the cameras. But that's not what happened with It ends with us. Instead, we got what can only be described as a passive, aggressive marketing campaign. Blake Lively did her interviews, often focusing on her hair care line, Blake Brown, and her drink company, Betty Buzz. Justin Baldoni did his interviews, but they rarely appeared together. When they did joint press, the body language was, let's call it professional. Fans started noticing.

10:42 Social media sleuths began documenting that Baldoni wasn't following Lively on Instagram. Then they noticed that Colleen Hoover, the author whose book This Whole Thing was based on, had also unfollowed Baldoni. Then other cast members stopped following him too. In Hollywood, social media follows our currency. When people start unfollowing you during your own movie's press tour, that's not an accident. That's a statement, But the real moment that told everyone something was seriously wrong came at the film's New York premiere on August sixth, twenty twenty four. Picture this red carpet. Blake Lively walks it with her co stars Brandon Sklenar and Jenny Slat, all smiles and photo ops.

11:26 They pose together, they laugh together. They look like the happy cast of a successful film. Meanwhile, Justin Baldoni, the director and male lead, walks the red carpet separately with his wife and family. No photos with the cast, no group shots, no unity. Then, in a move that broke every Hollywood tradition, Baldoni didn't introduce the film before the screening. Instead, Blake Lively and author Colleen Hoover introduced it together. Let me explain why this is significant. Directors always introduce their own films at premieres always, It's like a sacred rule.

12:06 For the star and author to introduce the film instead sends a very clear message about who the studio considers the real creative force behind the project. But here's where it gets really interesting. At that same premiere, Entertainment Tonight asked Baldoni if he'd want to direct the potential sequel based on Hoover's follow up novel It starts with us. His response, I think Blake Lively's ready to direct. That's what I think. Now. On the surface, that sounds supportive, but anyone who understands Hollywood subtext knows what he was really saying. I'm done with this franchise, and if there's a sequel, it's not my problem anymore. The film was released on August ninth, twenty twenty four, and despite all the behind the scenes drama, it was a massive success.

12:55 It grossed fifty million dollars domestically and eighty million dollars globally in its opening weekend. By August twentieth, it had cost one hundred million dollars at the domestic box office. But commercial success couldn't paper over the fact that something had gone very wrong between the two leads. Fans weren't just noticing the distance between Lively and Baldoni, they were starting to take sides. Some criticized Lively for her promotional approach, feeling that she wasn't taking the film serious subject matter about domestic violence seriously enough. Others questioned why Baldoni seemed to be distancing himself from his own movie, The Internet As It Does, began choosing teams. What none of us knew at the time was that behind the scenes, a much more serious battle was brewing, Because while Blake and Justin were smiling for cameras and doing their separate press tours, lawyers were reportedly already getting involved. The success of It Ends with Us should have been a celebration. Instead, it was the calm before legal storm that would make the film's domestic, violent storyline look tame by comparison, because in December twenty twenty four, Blake Lively decided she'd stayed quiet long enough, and when she finally spoke up, she didn't just allege inappropriate behavior on set. She alleged something far more sinister, a coordinated campaign to destroy her reputation and career.

14:24 That's where we'll pick up in our next episode how allegations of workplace harassment exploded into a four hundred million dollar legal war that's turned into one of the most vicious celebrity feuds in recent memory. But before we go, let me leave you with this thought. We're living in an era where every workplace harassment complaint becomes a public relations battle where every allegation is met with counter allegations, and where the truth often gets lost in the noise of competing narratives. Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni both believed they were the heroes of this story. Both thought they were being wronged by the other. Both hired expensive lawyers and crisis publicists to fight for their version of events. Tomorrow, Blake Lively will sit in a conference room and answer questions under oath about what really happened on that film set.

15:14 Her responses could determine not just the outcome of this case, but whether other people who experience workplace harassment feels safe speaking up. Because here's what this case is really about. When someone says they've been harassed or abused, do we believe them? And when powerful people are accused of misconduct, how far will they go to protect their reputations? I'm read Carter with celebrity trials. Justice isn't always fast, but it's always riveting, and sometimes the most important trials happen long before anyone sets foot in a courtroom. See you tomorrow for part two of this story, where we'll explore how a sexual harassment complaint became a digital war and a four hundred million dollar legal battle that's still raging today.