Leaked audio of Justin Baldoni claiming he was “sent to the basement” by Blake Lively during the It Ends With Us premiere has emerged, and we can be sure of one thing: everyone’s lawyers are working overtime.
The audio was played on The Megyn Kelly Show, in which the director speaks about allegedly being banned from the red carpet by Lively, forcing him to celebrate with his friends and family away from the crowds. Oh, and Justin Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman just happened to be booked as a guest on the show while it was played. Coincidence?
In the audio footage, which was played on The Megyn Kelly Show, Baldoni could be heard saying: “On what could have been one of the most beautiful nights of my life career-wise, I literally was sent to the basement with all my friends and family for over an hour because I wasn’t allowed to be seen, she didn’t want me anywhere near her or the rest of the cast.”
It continued: “So they ushered me off the carpet and sent us down to the basement, we were down there together, my friends and family, the people that love me the most.
“We start laughing because of the ridiculousness of this whole thing and I realise on a night that was supposed to be so materialistically joyful, I was in the basement with the people that love me the most and we were all joyful and laughing cause none of that shit matters, none of it.”
Justin Baldoni walked the It Ends With Us premiere red carpet solo. (Credit: Getty)
He concluded, “That’s not why we’re in the business … to attend a premiere and be celebrated like that, we’re in it because we’re artists and we believe in what we do and because we want to create art that touches people’s souls and can move people. And that’s what we did, that’s what you both did and I believe that will follow us, the truth will prevail and light and love will win.”
You can listen to the full interview, including the audio, below:
Neither Kelly nor Freedman revealed how the alleged voice note was obtained.
When Variety reached out to Blake Lively‘s rep for a comment, they shared an earlier statement penned by her legal team that says Lively’s “serious claims of sexual harassment and retaliation” against Baldoni are “backed by concrete facts”.
“Ms. Lively’s federal litigation before the Southern District of New York involves serious claims of sexual harassment and retaliation, backed by concrete facts. This is not a ‘feud’ arising from ‘creative differences’ or a ‘he said/she said’ situation,” Lively’s legal team previously told USA Today.
“As alleged in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and as we will prove in litigation, Wayfarer (Studios) and its associates engaged in unlawful, retaliatory astroturfing against Ms. Lively for simply trying to protect herself and others on a film set. And their response to the lawsuit has been to launch more attacks against Ms. Lively since her filing.”
Last month, Lively kicked off legal proceedings against Baldoni, accusing the director of sexual harassment on the set of It Ends With Us. The complaint also accused him of mounting a smear campaign against her.
In response, Baldoni filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times, which broke the story of Lively’s complaint.
