Blake Lively has been accused of trying wrestle control of the It Ends With Us film from Justin Baldoni by storyboard artist, Talia Spencer, on Sunday’s edition of 60 Minutes Australia.

In a segment exploring the ugly legal battle between the Gossip Girl actress, 37, and and Baldoni, 41, Spencer fiercely defended the director, who Lively accused of Sєxual harᴀssment and launching a retaliatory smear campaign against her in December.

While speaking about her former boss, Spencer described Baldoni, who has denied all of Lively’s allegations and filed a defamation countersuit against her, as ‘one of the few directors I’ve worked for that was kind and respectful.’ 

‘I feel like maybe Blake smelled his kindness, mistook it for weakness and tried to take advantage and take power,’ she speculated. 

When asked directly if she believed Lively attempted to seize control of the film,  Spencer answered: ‘I think she tried to, yes.’

As for whether Lively was successful in obtaining that power, the It Ends With Us crew member stated she feels ‘there was a mᴀssive compromise in terms of Justin’s original vision for the film.’

Blake Lively has been accused of trying wrestle control of the It Ends With Us film from Justin Baldoni by storyboard artist, Talia Spencer, on Sunday’s edition of 60 Minutes Australia

Spencer also recalled thinking that Baldoni cared ‘a lot about the vision’ of the film and was ‘not in it for fame.’ 

She went on to say that she finds it ‘very hard to believe the allegations against him, considering his mission statement about the film. And him, genuinely, pitching that he was doing this film to help young women.’

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‘I just find it hard to believe the allegations, to be honest,’ she reiterated. 

In response to whether she ever felt uncomfortable during any of her interactions with Baldoni, Spencer insisted ‘not at all.’

‘I felt more comfortable being around Justin than a lot of film directors, in my experience,’ she explained. 

Since 2019, Spencer has worked in the art departments of 10 TV shows and movies. 

DailyMail.com has reached out to both Lively and Baldoni’s respective reps, but have not heard back. 

Previously, Baldoni told People that ‘there wasn’t a part of this production that [Lively] didn’t touch and have influence on.’

In a segment exploring the ugly legal battle between the Gossip Girl actress, 37, and and Baldoni, 41, Spencer fiercely defended the director, who Lively accused of Sєxual harᴀssment and launching a retaliatory smear campaign against her in December

‘Everything she put her hands on and her mind to, she made better,’ he praised in an interview, released months before she filed her lawsuit. 

In January, Lively’s legal team furiously accused Baldoni of using the ‘abuser playbook’ in his $400 million lawsuit against her and her husband Ryan Reynolds. 

Lively and Reynolds were sued, earlier this year, for defamation by Baldoni and his publicists, who say the actress cooked up a scheme to kill their careers and discredit them by making false accusations of Sєxual harᴀssment.

Court papers obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com accuse Lively and Reynolds of using their combined star power to hijack their film, It Ends With Us, which Baldoni co-starred in and directed.

The defamation suit came after Lively sued Baldoni for Sєxually harᴀssment and creating a toxic work environment on the set of the film. He has staunchly denied the allegations.

In response to Baldoni’s lawsuit, Lively’s attorneys issued a fiery statement to DailyMail.com, declaring: ‘This latest lawsuit from Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its ᴀssociates is another chapter in the abuser playbook.’

They added: ‘This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of Sєxual harᴀssment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim. This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.’

While speaking about her former boss, Spencer described Baldoni, who has denied all of Lively’s allegations and filed a defamation countersuit against her, as ‘one of the few directors I’ve worked for that was kind and respectful’

‘I feel like maybe Blake smelled his kindness, mistook it for weakness and tried to take advantage and take power,’ she speculated

The statement alleged Baldoni’s production company Wayfarer Studios ‘opted to use the resources of its billionaire co-founder to issue media statements, launch meritless lawsuits, and threaten litigation to overwhelm the public’s ability to understand that what they are doing is retaliation against Sєxual harᴀssment allegations.’

Lively’s attorneys added: ‘They are trying to shift the narrative to Ms. Lively by falsely claiming that she seized creative control and alienated the cast from Mr. Baldoni. The evidence will show that the cast and others had their own negative experiences with Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer.

‘The evidence will also show that Sony asked Ms. Lively to oversee Sony’s cut of the film, which they then selected for distribution and was a resounding success.’

They continued: ‘Their response to Sєxual harᴀssment allegations: she wanted it, it’s her fault. Their justification for why this happened to her: look what she was wearing.’

The statement concluded: ‘In short, while the victim focuses on the abuse, the abuser focuses on the victim. The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, it does not refute the evidence in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and it will fail.”

When asked directly if she believed Lively (pictured last year) attempted to seize control of the film, Spencer answered: ‘I think she tried to, yes’

She also admitted it is ‘very hard to believe the allegations against him’ (Lively and Baldoni seen on set in January 2024)

In Baldoni’s lawsuit, he accused Lively of muscling in on production, despite allegedly failing to read the book until filming was well under way.

The hijack allegedly went as far as relegating Baldoni and his family to the basement after arriving on the red carpet for the movie’s premiere on August 6, 2024, because ‘Lively demanded he not attend’.

The suit said: ‘Security personnel, acting as though there was a risk of “escape,” escorted Baldoni’s group to the basement of the building.

‘There, they were confined to a makeshift holding area surrounded by concession stand stock, with only foldout tables and chairs arranged in a square.’

In addition to not reading the book before filming started, the lawsuit claims she initially pushed back on having to read it at all.

Previously, Baldoni told People that ‘there wasn’t a part of this production that [Lively] didn’t touch and have influence on’ (seen in February 2025) 

‘Everything she put her hands on and her mind to, she made better,’ he praised in an interview, released months before she filed her lawsuit; pictured in August 2024

And despite the novel’s dark subject matter, Lively allegedly failed to take it seriously during the promotional campaign – even naming a cocktail after the abusive lead male character.

This, the filing says, is evidence of the ‘insensitivity’ that sparked an ‘organic backlash to the actress last summer.

Lively’s Sєxual harᴀssment claims first appeared in December in a New York Times story that included texts sent between his publicists that they now say were cherrypicked and stripped of context to make it appear Baldoni was orchestrating a ‘smear campaign’ against the actress.

But the actor says it was Lively who was the real orchestrator of a negative publicity campaign – alleging that she had been working with her own publicist Leslie Sloane and the New York Times for months before the article was published.

Baldoni is already suing the outlet for $250 million for libel and defamation, saying in his lawsuit that the story relied on Lively’s ‘self-serving narrative.’