What started as a high-profile Hollywood collaboration between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni on the film It Ends With Us has turned into one of the most tangled and controversial court dramas in recent memory.
Now, the legal fight has taken another strange turn — with Lively demanding that producer Jamey Heath hand over more footage of his wife’s home-birth video, which she claims was shown to her without consent on set.
Lively Accuses Producer of Withholding Evidence
According to court filings, the Gossip Girl star submitted a motion on October 30, alleging that Heath had “failed to comply” with an earlier court order requiring him to produce the full version of the now-infamous birthing video.
Lively’s legal team says Heath only handed over a three-minute clip, even though she insists the version she saw on set was far more explicit.
The motion, filed with the Southern District Court of New York, accuses Heath of deliberately withholding the full video, which Lively argues is crucial evidence in her sexual harassment lawsuit against Heath, Baldoni, and their production company, Wayfarer Studios.
The Alleged Incident on Set
Lively claims the incident occurred when Heath showed her and an assistant a video of his wife giving birth at home — completely naked — as part of a “creative discussion” about how a birthing scene would be portrayed in It Ends With Us.
She says she was shocked and described the footage as “pornographic”, alleging that she was never warned about what she was about to see.
Her lawyers say Heath “put this video at issue” the moment he chose to display it to her at work without permission.
They also argue it’s “improper” for him to insist that the shorter video he later provided to the court is the same one he showed her on set.
Legal Team Fires Back
Lively’s attorneys are pushing for a court order that would force Heath to turn over every version of the birthing video within three days or face restrictions at trial.
They argue that withholding the footage has “deprived” Lively of the opportunity to fully question Heath about it during his deposition earlier in October.
In their fiery statement, her legal team accused Heath of knowingly refusing to comply with the court’s request and argued that the video is central to proving that Lively was exposed to an inappropriate and distressing situation during filming.
Heath and Baldoni Deny Wrongdoing
Heath and Baldoni have both denied the allegations. In a previously dismissed Wayfarer Studios complaint, they accused Lively of “knowingly and maliciously” misrepresenting the situation.
They claimed that Heath only attempted to show her a video meant to demonstrate the tone and realism of the movie’s birthing scene, not to expose her to anything inappropriate.
The dismissed complaint insisted that the footage was “beautiful” and captured “a special moment” between Heath, his wife, and their newborn — shared with her consent for creative purposes.
They called it “deplorable” for Lively to describe the footage as pornographic.
What Lively Describes Happened
According to Lively, however, Heath played the video without warning, showing a fully nude woman with her legs apart.
When she realized what she was seeing, she stopped him and asked if his wife knew he was showing the footage.
Heath allegedly responded that “she isn’t weird about this stuff,” implying that Lively was overreacting.
Lively and her assistant quickly excused themselves, stunned by the encounter.
Her legal team later argued that the video was not shared for artistic reasons but was an inappropriate and personal clip that had no place in a professional setting.
A Legal Saga That Keeps Growing
The dispute is part of a wider lawsuit that Lively filed in December 2024, accusing Baldoni, Heath, and Wayfarer Studios of sexual harassment, retaliation, and emotional distress during the filming of It Ends With Us.
Baldoni, who also starred opposite Lively in the film, responded with a defamation countersuit against her, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and her publicist Leslie Sloane — as well as a separate $400 million lawsuit against The New York Times for reporting on Lively’s allegations.
However, those counterclaims have since been dismissed.
Baldoni’s Countersuits Dismissed
Court filings obtained last week reportedly show that a final judgment has been entered against Baldoni’s lawsuits, effectively ending his claims against Lively, Reynolds, and The New York Times. U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman confirmed that Baldoni failed to amend his complaint by the given deadline after his case was dismissed in June.
That means the only active case remaining is Lively’s harassment lawsuit, which continues to unfold in New York.
From Box Office Success to Legal Controversy
It Ends With Us may have been a box office success, earning $148 million domestically and $350 million worldwide, but its reputation has been clouded by ongoing legal drama.
The film, based on Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel, told the story of a toxic relationship between Lily Bloom (Lively) and Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni) — themes that now echo uncomfortably close to real life.
The once-celebrated collaboration between Lively and Baldoni has devolved into one of Hollywood’s most publicized and personal court battles — one where art, privacy, and professionalism have collided in the most unexpected way.