Justin Baldoni Jokes About ‘Sexual Harassment Training’ Amid Blake Lively Lawsuit

A newly released, behind-the-scenes clip from It Ends With Us has ignited fresh controversy around Justin Baldoni amid his ongoing legal battle with Blake Lively.

The footage, obtained by the Daily Mail, captured the actor-director, 41, making a remark that some crew members appeared visibly unsettled by.

Filed as an exhibit by Baldoni’s own studio, Wayfarer, the eight-minute video was shot on May 23, 2023, while the cast prepared to film a bar scene. 

In the recording, Baldoni is seen standing with Lively and co-star Jenny Slate at a table, casually chatting. 

At one moment, he uttered the word ‘sexy’ while looking in Lively’s direction, and although his legal team insisted the comment was ‘entirely unremarkable,’ the clip showed several crew members seemingly exchanging quick, uncomfortable glances.

According to Baldoni’s attorneys, Lively wasn’t ‘scantily clad’ but was wearing a fleece onesie, as were the rest of the actors. 

They argued the exchange was innocuous and ‘Baldoni’s facial expression was neutral and not ogling or suggestive.’

The filing also claimed Lively responded, ‘All good,’ though her voice was not audible in the recording.

But it’s what came next that has triggered a wave of online backlash.

Moments later, Baldoni turned toward Slate and said, ‘Sorry, I missed the sexual harassment training,’ before dramatically rolling his eyes. 

His legal team characterized it as an apology ‘if his remark was inappropriate.’ 

Critics argue the eye-roll, delivered straight into the camera, trivialized concerns about workplace conduct, particularly given that Baldoni was both director and employer on the set.

‘I’m struggling to work out what is the worst moment,’ one Reddit user wrote. ‘The up and down her body leer or the eye roll that gave away what he truly thinks about the idea of sexual harassment training.’ 

Another said: ‘You can really feel how viscerally uncomfortable everyone is around him.’ 

‘I hate how smug and smiling he is thinking he can just get away with being a creep to multiple women on the daily for this project,’ a third reacted. 

A fourth commented: ‘Holy cow my jaw just dropped to the floor.’ 

A source close to Baldoni’s team told the Daily Mail exclusively: ‘There is nothing to hide and it was submitted as part of the defendant’s evidence.’ 

The video has surfaced at a critical moment in the increasingly combative legal battle between Lively and Baldoni.

Just days earlier, Baldoni filed a bombshell deleted scene as part of his motion for summary judgment, alleging that Lively herself engaged in unscripted physical contact during filming.

The minute-long hospital hallway clip, shot in May 2023, shows Lively’s character Lily walking up to Baldoni’s Ryle, grabbing his arms, planting a quick kiss on him and walking away smiling. 

According to Baldoni’s legal team, the kiss was not in the script, and Lively not only approved it but ‘oversaw’ the scene and added it to every take.

In December 2024, Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation, allegations he firmly denies. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to reps for both stars.

Despite It Ends With Us earning $148 million domestically and $350 million worldwide, its success has been overshadowed by increasingly public battles between its two leads.

The film, starring Lively, Baldoni, Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Brandon Sklenar and Kevin McKidd, adapts Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel about a woman rebuilding her life after a traumatic childhood and recognizing troubling patterns in her new relationship.