US actor and director Justin Baldoni has said he and his family are “healing” after reaching a settlement in his high-profile legal battle with Hollywood star Blake Lively over the production of their 2024 film It Ends With Us.
Baldoni and wife speak out after months of silence
The two stars settled their dispute earlier this year ahead of a planned trial over Lively’s claims that Baldoni harassed her and coordinated a campaign to attack her reputation, after she privately accused him of sexually harassing her on set. Baldoni, 42, who starred in Jane the Virgin, released a lengthy Instagram video on Wednesday night alongside his wife Emily as they opened up about the “trauma” of the legal battle.
As Baldoni began the almost five-minute-long video, he said: “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. But it just felt like every time we went to make a video like this, we wanted to speak, something was telling us not to. It just didn’t feel like the right time. But we were talking about it and feeling into it and praying about it.”
Emily Baldoni expresses 'immense gratitude' amid pain
His wife of nearly 13 years added that now “feels like the moment” and that there is “so much to say”. She also told of the “immense gratitude” for “so many things and so many people” in their lives but said this feeling “doesn’t negate the injustice and the pain that we have also felt in the last few years”. “We’ve had to wrestle with so many things and try to understand so many things, like how could something like this even happen? Let alone disguised as a fight for women. So much to unpack,” Emily added.
The Swedish actress, 41, also said “there has been a lot of trauma for us to move through as a family” which has made it difficult for them to speak out. Baldoni told his four million followers: “We don’t even know this is the right thing to say, but we just know we need to share something. What I will say, is that there have been so many painful things that have been spoken into existence over the last couple years. That created so much noise, and we didn’t want to add to the noise. So we just wanted to let the justice system run its course.”
Healing is not linear, says Baldoni
He continued: “So how are we doing? We are healing, and if you’ve ever been through something traumatic, you know that healing isn’t linear. It looks different every day, and we have had to rethink for ourselves what is real and what matters. It’s this. It’s our family, it’s our friends, it’s our community, who have been there for us, it’s our faith.”
The couple concluded the video by thanking their supporters, their friends and their family. Baldoni directed and produced It Ends With Us – an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel – and starred in it alongside Lively. The Gossip Girl star, 38, filed her legal claim against him and several others tied to the romantic drama in late 2024.
Legal battle ends in settlement
Baldoni, who denied Lively’s allegations, then sued the actress and her husband, Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds, for defamation and extortion but his case was later dismissed. The two sides settled their legal dispute in May this year. It has since been reported that the actress, known for films such as The Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants, has filed for eight million dollars in fees and costs resulting from their lengthy legal battle.
