Why 'Heated Rivalry’ Came Up in Justin Baldoni vs. Blake Lively Court Showdown

The never-ending “It Ends with Us” legal battle rages on, as a federal judge on Thursday began hearing arguments on Justin Baldoni’s bid to dismiss Blake Lively’s sexual harassment lawsuit. 

In December 2024, Lively filed a legal complaint with the California Civil Rights Department claiming Baldoni sexually harassed her on set. Lively is currently suing Baldoni for sexual harassment and defamation. Baldoni has denied Lively’s allegations.

While her team argued that Baldoni improvised a kiss during a slow dance scene without her consent, claiming gender-based discrimination, Justin’s side defended him by comparing it to the love scenes from the hit “Heated Rivalry.” 

Baldoni’s lawyer Jonathan Bach ask Judge Lewis Liman if he was familiar with “Heated Rivalry,” to which the judge responded that he wasn’t familiar.

In a rebuttal, Bach noted that the show has “explicit” scenes between two male actors, who play secret love interests.

Bach asked if there could be gender-based discrimination if one of the male actors improvised a love scene.

Bach insisted that any touching that happened between Lively and Baldoni was in character and it was not related to Lively being a woman, so therefore it doesn’t constitute gender-based discrimination.

According to Bach, Baldoni didn’t commit any sexual misconduct.

Bach told the court, “This is a case about making a movie, one with highly charged romantic and sexual themes.”

Along with saying that an intimacy coordinator was on set, he emphasized, “The book called for sexy scenes.”

As for Lively’s claims of sexual harassment, Bach argued, “It’s not enough to show that sex or sexuality found its way into the workplace. Their burden is to show that it not only entered the workplace, but was used to discriminate against women.”

Liman did clap back at Bach’s arguments, saying that the sexual nature of the movie did not give Baldoni the right to freely touch Lively whenever he wanted. Bach agreed, stressing, “Context matters.”

Bach also told the court several times that Lively’s claims were “small potatoes,” and do not warrant sexual harassment. 

Liman snapped back, “A whole bunch of little things can add up to a big thing.”

Lively’s lawyer Esra Hudson argued that Baldoni was “consistently inappropriate and crossing boundaries,” and “kissed, nuzzled, and touched” Lively without her consent.

Liman asked Hudson for clarification on consent when it comes to intimate scenes, asking if and how improvisation plays a part. 

While Hudson believes that improvisation shouldn’t be prohibited, she noted that a conversation should be had in regard to touching.

When Liman said he felt that it “can’t be right” to have a jury look at every touch-related situation, Hudson said she believes this case is different.

The judge will look at both sides’ arguments and make a decision at a later date.