Justin Baldoni claims in a new legal filing that Blake Lively improvised an unscripted kissing scene while filming It Ends With Us.
The exhibit submitted by Wayfarer and others on Nov. 13 included a short clip of Lively and Baldoni, who co-starred in the movie, sharing a quick kiss as they passed each other in a hospital hallway.
According to People magazine, Baldoni’s lawyers claim in the document that the Gossip Girl alum, 38, “added a scene to the script in which her character kisses Baldoni’s character in every take, even though there was no kissing in the script.”
The one-minute-long video, shot in May 2023, shows Lively, who plays Lily, meeting Baldoni, who plays Lyle, a neurosurgeon working at a hospital.
Lily approaches a confused Lyle in the hallway, apologizes for interrupting his day, and kisses him lightly on the lips.
She then leaves Lyle, telling him along the way that she “coincidentally loves him.”
Baldoni’s character watches her exit with a bemused look on his face and throws his phone away before saying, “Okay, cut.”
A representative for Lively did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment on the deleted scene.
Lively, 38, sued Baldoni, 41, the film’s director, in December 2024, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation.
Baldoni has denied any wrongdoing and fired back in January with a $400 million countersuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and others, which was later dismissed by a judge.
Ms. Lively’s original complaint accused the director of “impromptu physical intimacy that was not rehearsed, choreographed, or discussed with Ms. Lively.”
After a meeting with Lively, Reynolds, and producers in January 2024, Wayfarer agreed to hire an intimacy coordinator and stated that there would be “no more impromptu kisses,” according to Lively’s complaint.
Baldoni’s lawyers had previously argued that only a scripted kissing scene was filmed before the Hollywood strike.
However, they also claimed that the new unscripted kissing scene was filmed before the industry strike on May 13, 2023.
According to People magazine, although Baldoni’s suit has since been dismissed, “Lively also alleges that there was an inappropriate and impromptu kiss during the first period of filming, before the strike was interrupted.”
“However, in reality, only two kissing scenes were filmed during the initial filming period, and both scenes involved scripted kisses. These kissing scenes were not improvised.”
On Wednesday, allegations also surfaced of documents exchanged between Baldoni and the film’s original author, Colleen Huber.
In an exchange purportedly from 2024, the “It Ends With Us” author allegedly wrote that he was “disappointed” in the director, saying he “felt forced to make a choice” amid Lively and Baldoni’s feud.
The alleged texts were submitted by Wayfarer on November 10th.
