Justin Baldoni has broken his silence for the first time since reaching a confidential settlement with Blake Lively, saying he and his family are still healing after nearly two years of legal and public scrutiny.
The It Ends With Us actor and director appeared alongside his wife, Emily Baldoni, in a video shared on Instagram on Wednesday, explaining why they had chosen not to speak publicly throughout the high-profile dispute.
“So we have not spoken publicly for the better part of the last two years, and it's not because we haven't had anything to say, because Lord knows we have,” Baldoni said.
Why the Baldonis stayed silent
The couple revealed they had wanted to comment on the saga, but felt “something was telling us not to”, instead choosing to let the legal process play out.
“We prayed a lot about when we should speak,” Emily added. “This feels like the moment.”
While expressing gratitude for the support they had received, the pair also reflected on the emotional toll the case had taken.
“Gratitude has saved us,” Baldoni said.
Emotional toll on the family
Emily continued: “I also feel that it's important as we say that – in that gratitude – it doesn't negate the injustice and the pain that we have also felt in the last few years. There's been a lot of trauma for us to move through as a family, which also makes it hard to speak.”
Baldoni added: “There have been so many painful things that have been spoken into existence.”
“Untruthful,” Emily interjected.
“We didn't want to add to the noise, so we just wanted to let the justice system run its course,” he said.
“And the truth and the facts have spoken for themselves,” Emily added.
Background of the legal battle
The statement comes months after Baldoni and Lively reached a confidential settlement, bringing an end to one of Hollywood's most closely watched legal battles.
The dispute began after Lively filed a lawsuit accusing her It Ends With Us co-star and director of sexual harassment and retaliation. Baldoni denied the allegations and later filed a $400 million countersuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane, alleging defamation and an attempt to seize creative control of the film. That lawsuit was later dismissed.
In May, both parties confirmed they had reached a confidential agreement to resolve the litigation, saying in a joint statement that they remained committed to creating workplaces “free of improprieties and unproductive environments” and hoped the resolution would allow “all involved to move forward constructively and in peace”.
Healing after the settlement
Reflecting on life after the settlement, Baldoni told followers: “We are healing, and if you’ve ever been through something traumatic, you know that healing isn’t linear.
“It lives different every day, and we have had to rethink for ourselves what is real. What matters, and it’s this. It’s our family. It’s our friends. It’s our community. It’s our faith.”
