The It Ends With Us controversy is far from slowing down. Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively are almost rhythmically delivering verbal blows to each other, consisting of trash talk and legal statements. Adding to the alleged smear campaign attacks, which Baldoni and Lively accuse each other of, is an intimacy coordinator’s seemingly biased commentary, blasted in the court of public opinion over lack of objectivity.
After Baldoni sued Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist Leslie Sloan, seeking $400 million, the Jane the Virgin alum presented raw footage from It Ends With Us of him dancing with the Gossip Girl actress in what appears to be an intimately charged dance. Recently, Mia Schachter, an intimacy coordinator who did not work on the project, shared her thoughts on a tabloid piece for The Hollywood Reporter. Schachter’s opinions have since caught wild attention.
Even though Baldoni’s team believes this video can clear him, Schachter said she sees the “opposite.” While the actor does not explicitly kiss Lively in the It Ends With Us footage, adhering to the script, Schachter claimed, “he is trying to kiss her, and they clearly haven’t discussed that ahead of time, and she clearly doesn’t want to do that.” She also suggested since “the director’s in charge,” Lively “would be afraid to be fired, quite honestly.”
Schachter also insinuated that Baldoni’s team may have avoided hiring an intimacy coordinator to enable “harassment,” remarking, “It doesn’t surprise me that there wasn’t one present for this scene.” Stating that the intimacy coordinator would adamantly tell Baldoni not to kiss his co-star, she added, “We’re not going to bring anything into the scene that we haven’t discussed prior.”
What caught Miss Schachter’s bias, in particular, was their inability to acknowledge Baldoni’s remark, “It smells good,” referring to Lively’s spray tan and not her personally. The former suggested the remark could feel inappropriate given what she described as “mounting discomfort and line crossings.”
Readers criticized both Schachter and The Hollywood Reporter for failing to present a balanced perspective — with many accusing them of clickbait tactics — leading the website to hide the comments section.
One of the now-deleted users said, “You’re not even trying to be objective about this. Impressive.” “Don’t forget to finish with PAID FOR BY RYAN REYNOLDS AND BLAKE LIVELY…” added another.
Some noted that THR is echoing the indiscretions Justin Baldoni earlier sued The New York Times for. Others raised concerns about labeling the dance “awkward” in the headline without clarifying that Schachter was not part of It Ends With Us.
As for the ongoing back-and-forth, Blake Lively’s legal team has requested a gag order to prevent Baldoni from releasing additional clips or texts, a motion he strongly opposes.
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