Since its release, there has been a steady stream of drama surrounding the book to movie adaptation of It Ends With Us (which is streaming with a Netflix subscription). While star Blake Lively originally caught flak for her behavior with journalists, the film is now the subject of multiple lawsuits from both the actress and director/actor Justin Baldoni. The back-and-forth has continued as the director's team leaked raw footage from the set, and now a real-life intimacy coordinator has commented about why it's not a real surprise a coordinator was missing.
In Lively's lawsuit, she claimed that an intimacy coordinator was not used and had to be negotiated for during filming, and stated actions from the director and others on set made her uncomfortable. Baldoni fired back with lawsuits against the New York Times and his former co-star. The second lawsuit named both Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively.
In the aftermath, the actor/director's legal team is making big moves, including releasing footage from the It Ends With Us set that shows the two stars getting cozy during a bar scene. It sparked conversations around how love scenes are filmed, and intimacy coordinator Mia Schachter spoke to THR about why one wouldn't be present for this scene, saying:
There’s two main reasons why people bring on an intimacy coordinator: either simulated sex or nudity. Anything else that could be considered intimate, we’re not always present or required. In a scene like this, it’s really common that you wouldn’t bring on an intimacy coordinator because there’s no simulated sex or nudity, and there’s not even kissing written into the scene. We saw that from that script excerpt.
Per Schachter's experience, she'd probably only be called in for sequences involving simulated sex and/or nudity. Since the viral clip was just showing Lively and Baldoni flirting at a bar, it's not a huge surprise it would not be a situation where her type of supervision would typically occur.
The clip of Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively has been re-watched and dissected since its release. While some think it shows the pair actually got along reasonably well, others have claimed the Gossip Girl actress looks uncomfortable with his advances. Later in the same piece, Mia Schachter spoke more about how the viral clip would have gone down if an intimacy coordinator had been present, offering:
I know that there were two intimacy coordinators credited on this film, but it doesn’t surprise me at all that they wouldn’t have had an intimacy coordinator present for this scene. An intimacy coordinator would have been very clear: ‘We’re not doing any kissing. This is the kind of touch that is on the table. Nothing else is, we’re not going to bring anything into the scene that we haven’t discussed prior.
This type of job has only become popular in entertainment over the last few years, but some actors have sworn by it. Blake Lively personally said it was "critical" to delicate scenes in order to make everyone feel safe and comfortable. How intimacy coordinators were ultimately used in This Ends With Us is just one point of contention surrounding the movie.
With a number of lawsuits in the air, the stakes surrounding the It Ends With Us drama are definitely high. It sounds like both legal teams are hard at work, so we'll have to see if Lively and Baldoni actually face off in court.
It Ends With Us is streaming now on Netflix. Check the 2025 movie release dates to plan your movie experiences this year.
