Justin Baldoni awkwardly fumbles his way through Blake Lively questions in resurfaced video

Justin Baldoni has dismissed questions about his It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively in an “awkward” interview that has resurfaced in the wake of her sexual harassment lawsuit against him.

The 40-year-old director is being sued by Lively, 37, over allegations that he created a toxic work environment during filming for the movie and attempted to tarnish its reputation after its release. He has denied the allegations.

Rumors of tension on set began circulating this summer during promotion of the film, but the bombshells released this weekend exposed the depth of friction between the actors.

Baldoni was interviewed by E! News earlier this month about what it was like working with Lively.

The actor can be seen pausing for a moment before answering, “Like I said before, Blake is so creative and she works so hard. This movie wouldn’t have been the same without her.”

Asked about the possibility of a sequel, Baldoni takes a deep breath and looks away before softly closing it out.

“You know I heard the follow-up conversations. You know, people ask me about sequels all the time.

“We’re in this place where we are…” he hesitates before continuing, “I’m just trying to be in the moment.

“I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude for the lives this has impacted and the lives this has changed. So we’re not even thinking about a sequel at the moment.’

While Baldoni appears relaxed under questioning, fans claimed they could see through the facade.

“He actually says ‘no’ in a very classy way,” one person wrote.

‘He danced around the question. “She worked hard” = she is terrible to work with, “focus on the now” = no, I don’t want to work with her anymore,” another added.

“Hmm, I find his response in these interviews interesting after reading the subpoenaed documents,” said one.

Lively has submitted pages of text messages and documents as part of her lawsuit, which she says show Baldoni and his team are orchestrating a smear campaign against her.

The messages included references from Baldoni’s crisis management team on how to “bury” the Gossip Girl actress.

The duo starred opposite each other earlier this year in the highly anticipated film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s popular novel of the same name.

The 40-year-old director is being sued by Lively, 37, over allegations that he fostered a toxic work environment while filming for the movie.

Baldoni spoke highly of Lively in the interview, despite their clashes behind the scenes

He also gently shut down the suggestion of a sequel when asked about it in an interview earlier this month

However, the release was hampered by a series of scandals after fans noticed tensions between the lead actors.

Lively has alleged that Baldoni asked inappropriate questions about her weight, comments about her late father and sexual comments about the cast and crew.

The situation became so unworkable that she and husband Ryan Reynolds demanded crisis meetings during filming to put a stop to the behavior, the lawsuit said.

Lively also requested, “No more sex scenes, oral sex or climaxes on camera by BL [Blake Lively] outside the scope of the script approved by BL at the signing of the project,” the documents say.

Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman responded to the lawsuit as “false, scandalous and deliberately lascivious with the intent to publicly injure.”

He emphasized that the legal action is an attempt by Lively to “repair her negative reputation” after rumors spread of diva-like behavior on set.

This included “threatening not to show up on set, threatening not to promote the film, which ultimately led to its demise during its release,” according to Freedman.