Blake Lively called intimacy coordinators “embarrassing” before filing the lawsuit

before Blake Lively I filed a lawsuit Against it And it ends with us Costar and director Justin BaldoniAlleging sexual harassment, retaliation and more, the actress spoke about the vital importance of intimacy coordinators.

“I think it's very important to have an intimacy coordinator,” Lively, 37, said. DigitalSpy In an August 2024 interview, published three months before the lawsuit against Baldoni was filed in the Southern District of New York.

“You coordinate the stunts, you coordinate the dancing, it's choreography,” she continued. “So you have to be able to say, 'This is what's going on here, here and here in an acrobatic show,' and 'This is what's going on here and here in dancing,' but like, 'Now guys, get your bodies together,' and 'mouths and whatever,' And just work and cut.

Lively went on to say that she believes the “choreography” during intimate scenes is “critical to everyone's safety.”

Lively officially filed suit against Baldoni on Tuesday, December 31, 2024, Us Weekly It was previously confirmed, alleging sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and loss of wages. In addition to Baldoni, Lively is suing her publicists Melissa to Natasha and Jennifer Appelas well as Wayfarer Studios.

Lively also filed a complaint with the California Department of Civil Rights, citing similar allegations.

“I hope my legal action will help draw the curtain on these evil retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak out about misconduct and help protect others who may be targeted,” Lively said in a statement. we.

In response, Baldoni filed a $250 million lawsuit A lawsuit against New York Times On the same day as reports of Lively's sexual harassment accusations. In the lawsuit, Baldoni accuses the publication of defamation and false invasion of privacy, alleging that the newspaper “cherry-picked” communications and omitted context in order to mislead readers.

The suit also alleges that Lively pursued a “strategic and manipulative” smear campaign against Baldoni, using “false sexual harassment allegations to assert unilateral control over every aspect of the production.”

Baldoni also claims that Lively never met an intimacy coordinator during filming And it ends with us.

“In this vicious smear campaign entirely orchestrated by Blake Lively and her team, New York Times “They submitted to the desires and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elite, disregarding journalistic practices and ethics that were once befitting the venerable publication by using, manipulating and deleting texts that deliberately contradicted their chosen public relations narrative,” Baldoni’s attorney said. Brian Friedman said this via a statement to us on Tuesday, December 31.

“By doing so, they pre-determined the outcome of their story, and aided and abetted their own destructive PR smear campaign designed to revitalize the faltering public image caused by Lively and counter the organic wave of criticism among the online public,” Friedman continued. . “The irony is rich.”