A single phone call about Blake Lively’s weight is now the flashpoint that could sway a May trial and cement Hollywood’s newest legal feud as a watershed moment for on-set boundaries.
Don Saladino—the veteran fitness coach who has shaped Blake Lively’s physique since her Gossip Girl days—has sworn under penalty of perjury that Justin Baldoni phoned him in February 2023 to ask how much the actress would weigh when cameras rolled on It Ends With Us.
Saladino’s declaration, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by Us Weekly, marks the first time a neutral third party has publicly corroborated Lively’s central harassment claim: that Baldoni fixated on her body without consent.
Why One Question Carries Legal Weight
California’s anti-harassment statute doesn’t require repeated abuse—a single severe or pervasive act can qualify. Saladino’s testimony that Baldoni’s query left him “very uncomfortable” and that he found the justification “dishonest” arms Lively’s legal team with a firsthand witness who was neither on the payroll of her production company nor beholden to Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios.
Baldoni’s defense briefs—previously outlined by Yahoo Entertainment—argue the lift-scene excuse was reasonable because of his chronic back issues. Saladino undercuts that narrative, noting Baldoni’s regimen already included heavy posterior-chain work like back extensions and that the actor was “easily” capable of lifting a range that included Lively.
Timeline of a Toxic Set
- Early 2023: Baldoni texts Saladino for free training advice.
- Feb 2023: Phone call about Lively’s weight; Saladino refuses to answer and alerts the actress.
- Aug 2024: It Ends With Us opens to $50 million domestic amid whispers of behind-the-scenes tension.
- Dec 2024: Lively sues Baldoni for sexual harassment and retaliation.
- Jan 2025: Baldoni countersues for $400 million; case dismissed six months later.
- May 18, 2026: Lively’s trial date looms with Saladino now listed as a likely witness.
Hollywood’s Body-Image Reckoning
The Saladino declaration arrives as SAG-AFTRA’s 2024 intimacy-protocol addendum explicitly labels unauthorized weight discussions “a form of body shaming” that can trigger fines or suspension. Studios from Disney to Netflix have since inserted clauses barring directors or co-stars from asking for numeric weight data unless a stunt safety memo is co-signed by a licensed coordinator.
Lively’s camp is expected to argue that Baldoni’s call violated those exact new standards—even though they were ratified after production wrapped—by showing a pattern of behavior the guild already deemed abusive.
What the Trainer Risked
Saladino’s brands—Drive495 gyms and the Superhero Body app—count celebrities from Ryan Reynolds to Gal Gadot. By siding with Lively in a sworn statement, he jeopardizes potential future male-star clients who might balk at a coach willing to testify against one of their own. His willingness to do so signals how damaging he found Baldoni’s request.
Next Chess Moves
Judge Michael Stern has already urged both parties to settle, but Lively’s team views Saladino’s declaration as leverage for a public apology and a seven-figure donation to her Child Rescue Coalition charity. Baldoni’s attorneys, meanwhile, must now decide whether to attack Saladino’s credibility—risking further bad press—or to fold the weight question into a broader mea culpa that stops short of admitting harassment.
Either way, the May 18 trial is now a Hollywood must-watch: a #MeToo-era test of whether a single “uncomfortable” question can cost a leading man more than a blockbuster—it can cost him the narrative.
Stay locked to onlytrustedinfo.com for the fastest, most authoritative breakdown of every filing, witness, and verdict as the It Ends With Us legal saga races toward its climax.
