Justin Baldoni's legal team releases footage of slow dance scene with Blake Lively: Reports

Amid Justin Baldoni's ongoing legal battle with "It Ends with Us" co-star Blake Lively, his attorneys have released behind-the-scenes footage of an intimate scene the actors performed.

According to footage obtained by Fox News and Entertainment Tonight, the nearly 10-minute clip shows the actors' characters Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni) and Lily Bloom (Lively) slow dancing. Lively cited the scene in her December complaint against Baldoni as evidence the actor "ignored well-established industry protocols in filming intimate scenes and exploited the lack of controls on set to behave inappropriately."

"The following videos captured on May 23, 2023, clearly refute Ms. Lively's characterization of his behavior," a statement from Baldoni's legal team reads in the video's opening. "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."

USA TODAY has reached out to Baldoni's legal representatives for comment.

In an emailed statement to USA TODAY on Tuesday, Lively's legal team blasted the footage's release as a "stunt" by Baldoni's attorneys and a "continuation of their harassment and retaliatory campaign."

"While they are focused on misleading media narratives, we are focused on the legal process," Lively's attorneys said. "We are continuing our efforts to require Mr. Baldoni and his associates to answer in court, under oath, rather than through manufactured media stunts."

What happened in 'It Ends with Us' slow dance scene filming?

In the behind-the-scenes footage, which shows three consecutive takes of the slow dance scene, Baldoni and Lively are seen laughing and chatting casually as they discuss the direction for the romantic sequence, which is set in a bar.

At one point during filming, Baldoni nuzzles his face into Lively's neck as they dance. "Am I getting beard on you today?" Baldoni said to Lively, in reference to his facial hair. Lively laughed and responded: "I'm probably getting spray tan on you."

Baldoni then remarked that Lively's spray tan "smells good," to which Lively explained, "Well, it's not that. It's my body makeup."

In her December complaint, Lively alleged Baldoni "did not act in character as Ryle" for the scene and that the actor's physical intimacy was out of bounds.

"At one point, he leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, 'It smells so good,'" Lively's complaint read, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY at the time.

"Mr. Baldoni was caressing Ms. Lively with his mouth in a way that had nothing to do with their roles. When Ms. Lively later objected to this behavior, Mr. Baldoni's response was, 'I'm not even attracted to you.'"

Blake Lively's legal team calls behind-the-scenes footage 'damning'

In a statement to USA TODAY, Lively's legal team claimed that "every frame" of the behind-the-scenes clip "corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Lively described" in her complaint against Baldoni.

"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," the actress's attorneys said.

"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."

Lively's attorneys said Baldoni, who also served as the director of "It Ends with Us," completely improvised his character's behavior toward Lively "with no discussion or consent in advance and no intimacy coordinator present."

"The video shows Ms. Lively leaning away and repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk," Lively's legal team added. "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."

Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively's legal drama, explained

The former co-stars both filed lawsuits on New Year's Eve rehashing their allegations of working together: Lively's federal suit mirrors a complaint filed in California and chronicled in a viral New York Times report, titled "'We Can Bury Anyone': Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine."

The "Gossip Girl" alum alleges Baldoni engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct in and out of the workplace and orchestrated a smear campaign against her for addressing his purported behavior.

Meanwhile, Baldoni's $250 million suit challenged The New York Times' reporting on Lively's allegations, claiming the publication relied on "'cherry-picked' and altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead."

Baldoni also filed a $400 million federal lawsuit against Lively and her actor husband Ryan Reynolds on Thursday, accusing the A-list couple of defamation and extortion.

Contributing: Jay Stahl, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Justin Baldoni's legal team releases footage of Blake Lively scene