Blake Lively Vs Justin Baldoni: Why Is Gay Hockey Show Heated Rivalry Being Dragged In Harassment Case?

The legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni is getting more and more complicated each day. After Taylor Swift's leaked texts shook the internet, the case took an unexpected turn when a popular

gay romance series, Heated Rivalry, entered courtroom arguments. As Baldoni seeks to have Lively’s s*xual harassment and retaliation lawsuit dismissed, his legal team introduced the HBO Max show as a comparison point, sparking surprise and even laughter inside the courtroom. The unusual reference raises questions about why a gay hockey drama is being cited in a high-profile Hollywood harassment case tied to the 2024 film It Ends With Us.

Heated Rivalry in New York Court!

On Thursday, lawyers representing Justin Baldoni appeared before U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman, arguing that Lively’s claims should be thrown out. Lively has accused Baldoni, her co-star and director on It Ends With Us, of harassment and retaliation during and after the film’s production. Her lawsuit also names the film’s producers and Baldoni’s publicists.

Baldoni’s legal team maintained that the allegations stem from improvisation during emotionally and s*xually charged scenes, which they argued does not constitute gender-based harassment. At one point, Baldoni’s attorney Jonathan Bach referenced Heated Rivalry, a gay romance drama centered on two rival hockey players, to challenge the foundation of Lively’s claims.

Why was Heated Rivarly brought up?

Heated Rivalry, which is gaining worldwide fame, landed up in the most unusual conversation. "I don’t know if the court is familiar with the show Heated Rivalry", Bach said, prompting laughter in the courtroom as per Variety. Bach went on to describe the series as containing several explicit scenes, using it to counter arguments made earlier by Lively’s lawyer, Esra Hudson.

Hudson had argued that Baldoni’s improvisation on set did not justify physical actions such as kissing or nuzzling that Lively did not consent to, and that such behaviour could amount to gender-based discrimination. Bach responded by posing a hypothetical scenario: if a male actor on Heated Rivalry improvised intimate contact with another man during a scene, would that constitute gender-based discrimination? The show was merely brought up to counter Lively's points.Throughout the hearing, Baldoni's side kept their arguments based around the fact that any physical contact between Baldoni and Lively was rooted in their characters’ romantic relationship and not tied to Lively’s gender. He argued that the conduct in question was part of storytelling and performance, rather than harassment.