Intimacy coordinator does not believe Justin Baldoni or Blake Lively is lying about leaked set video

A Hollywood intimacy coordinator has shared their thoughts on the controversial video of Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni on the It Ends With Us set, which surfaced amid their ongoing legal disputes.

The video, released exclusively by DailyMail.com, showed three takes of a dance scene between Lively, 37, and Baldoni, 40, highlighting their seemingly good relationship before Lively accused him of sexual harassment.

Lively responded to the video’s release, stating it reinforced her claim that she felt uncomfortable during the scene.

Mia Schachter, who did not work on It Ends With Us but has worked on other prominent productions such as Apple TV+’s Lessons in Chemistry and HBO’s Insecure, gave her opinion to THR. She stated the video supports the claim that Baldoni’s actions made Lively uncomfortable.

When asked about the scene, Schachter said, "The first thing is that he is trying to kiss her, and they clearly haven’t discussed that ahead of time, and she keeps pulling away and clearly doesn’t want to do that."

Noting that "no kissing [was] written into the scene," as per the script excerpt, Schachter added that an intimacy coordinator would have intervened to prevent any unscripted kissing.

She argued it was Baldoni’s responsibility to consult Lively about the kiss but instead, "he just went for it. She pulled away, and then he did it again."

Schachter called his alleged failure to communicate "pretty damning, both as an actor and director."

She further noted, "I don’t think either one of them is lying. I think they’re both talking from their own experience. They are really strongly disagreeing about things like professionalism, etiquette, what’s appropriate, what’s not, what it means to be an actor."

Regarding the power dynamic between Lively and Baldoni, Schachter explained that while Lively, as a high-profile actress, could speak her mind without fearing job loss, she still had to maintain a working relationship with Baldoni, which may have influenced her behavior on set.

Schachter added, "I can see her appeasing him and trying to keep a smile on her face," noting the complexity of determining who held authority in the situation.

She concluded that the video did not "vindicate Baldoni" and that an intimacy coordinator would have clarified boundaries and ensured neither actor was caught off guard.

The controversy follows a legal move by Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds after Baldoni's lawyer released the contentious video.