Justin Baldoni‘s lawyer just claimed Blake Lively didn’t read It Ends With Us — and therefore she didn’t know what she was getting into.
In Tuesday’s episode of The Megyn Kelly Show, Bryan Freedman shared an audio clip in which his client complained about being stuck in the basement for “over an hour” during the film’s premiere, allegedly due to the Gossip Girl alum’s demands. The host, however, gave Blake the benefit of the doubt, pointing out that she has since accused Justin of sexual harassment, which would be a good reason she may not have wanted to be near him.
Related: How Justin’s Version Of It Ends With Us Differed From Blake’s Final Cut!
Bryan hit back, arguing:
“Blake Lively, if she was sexually harassed to such a degree in this film and in this situation, you know, she wouldn’t have returned to the film.”
Let’s not forget there are contracts involved that might not make it very easy for someone in Blake’s position to just walk away from a huge project.
Bryan didn’t stop there, either. He went on to claim that Blake’s sexual harassment allegations and the tension between the co-stars stemmed from the fact she didn’t “understand” the content of the film she was making — insinuating what happened on the set was all her fault. Addressing the widely-publicized meeting the group had to discuss Blake’s list of concerns before returning to the project, the attorney alleged:
“They had sat down and they had talked about what her complaints were. The unfortunate thing is, she actually didn’t read the book and didn’t understand what the book was about.”
Whether or not she read the book (and he didn’t provide any evidence), she did read the script, so she knew what she was getting herself into. It’s crazy to say otherwise, or to claim this is the reason for her very real, very serious complaints.
What about the allegations that Justin was inappropriately “improvising of kissing” or “adding” various “sex scenes, oral sex, or on camera climaxing by Blake Lively outside the scope of the script Blake Lively approved when signing on to the project”? Even if she had read the book, she could not have prepared for the director to be allegedly adding stuff she didn’t consent to.
Doubling down on his stance, Bryan went on to debunk some of her complaints while comparing them to the book, adding:
“And as a result of that, you know, the complaints are things like he had gone into her trailer when she was breastfeeding, to which there are text messages that address that. There were complaints that Jamey Heath, Justin’s partner, had shown pornography. If you look at the actual complaint that they filed, it says that that’s pornography but [what] Jamey Heath showed her was a still video of a home birth because they were discussing a scene about birthing, and that’s not pornography. If you get down to the specific allegations… I mean what this film was about was about domestic violence, was about sex scenes that involve rough behavior and domestic violence and serious issues like that.”
Regardless if she was shown porn or not, for example, she still might have felt uncomfortable viewing such an intimate birthing video — and she certainly shouldn’t be expected to watch it just because of the content in the movie. Maybe more of the leaked texts will prove Justin wasn’t as in the wrong as Blake made it out in her lawsuit, but comparing her complaints to those of the book/movie doesn’t seem like the right strategy by any means.
Nevertheless, that’s what the lawyer seemingly did before arguing his client handled everything appropriately. He said that anytime someone felt “uncomfortable” in the film, “Justin took responsibility for it” and tried to resolve the matter. That said, Blake certainly didn’t feel this way, and the entire cast seems to be on her side, which says a lot…
Hear the lawyer’s full defense (below):
Reactions, Perezcious readers? Do you think it matters whether or not Blake read It Ends With Us? Tell us (below)!
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