Of the sexual harassment claims, Judge Liman wrote, “Lively claims that during filming, Baldoni leaned in and gestured as if he was intending to kiss her, and that he kissed her forehead, rubbed his face and mouth against her neck, put his thumb to her mouth and flicked her lower lip, caressed her, and leaned into her neck, saying ‘it smells good.'” The AP reports that Liman agreed if that happened on a factory floor or executive suite, it would absolutely be grounds for a lawsuit. But a movie set? Well, that’s called “acting in the scene.” We suppose that’s why the industry created intimacy coordinators, and why so many others think they’re buzzkills. “Creative artists, no less than comedy room writers, must have some amount of space to experiment within the bounds of an agreed script without fear of being held liable for sexual harassment,” the judge continues. Of course, in another instance of alleged harassment, in which Baldoni asked Lively to remove her jacket and reveal a lace bra underneath, which he called “pretty hot,” Baldoni was warned against making such comments about the actors he was directing. To which he responded, “Sorry, I missed the sexual harassment training.” Acting!
But it wasn’t simply that Judge Liman wanted to give Baldoni a longer leash on his improvisation. According to Variety, Lively’s sexual harassment claim was null and void on the federal level because she was an independent contractor. Moreover, she couldn’t claim it under California law because It Ends With Us was filmed in New Jersey. As for the claims that Baldoni summoned a murder of publicists to plant unsavory stories about Lively in the press, the judge is allowing two of those retaliation charges to go to a jury.
Despite the negative press, the movie was a massive hit for Sony, grossing more than $350 million worldwide. It also launched the Colleen Hoover Cinematic Universe, which continues to clean up at the box office with sleeper romantic tragedies.
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