Justin Baldoni and his wife, Emily, sat down in front of a camera this week and did something they’d avoided for two years: talk. In a nearly five-minute Instagram video posted Wednesday, the “It Ends With Us” director addressed, without ever naming her, his legal fight with co-star Blake Lively for the first time since she accused him of sexual harassment and retaliation in December 2024.
“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, adding that something had always told the couple to hold off. Emily Baldoni said the family had wrestled with “how could something like this even happen, let alone disguised as a fight for women,” describing ongoing trauma they’re still working through.
The dispute upended Hollywood after Lively filed a civil rights complaint alleging Baldoni harassed her on the set of the 2024 Colleen Hoover adaptation and that his studio, Wayfarer, orchestrated a smear campaign once she raised concerns. Baldoni denied the claims and countersued Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist for $400 million, alleging defamation and extortion. A federal judge dismissed that countersuit last year, ruling Lively’s claims were protected under litigation privilege, while also narrowing her original case to breach of contract and retaliation claims.
The two sides settled in May, just weeks before trial, with no damages changing hands. But the fight wasn’t over: Lively has since billed Baldoni and Wayfarer more than $8 million in attorneys’ fees, an amount a judge ordered him to pay last month under a California law shielding people from retaliatory lawsuits. Baldoni’s team has until Monday to accept the bill or contest it.
Neither Baldoni nor his wife mentioned Lively, Reynolds or the film by name in the video. Instead, they framed the past two years around faith and resilience. “We are healing, and if you’ve ever been through something traumatic, you know that healing isn’t linear,” Baldoni said, thanking fans who “had discernment” and stood by the family. Emily Baldoni said the gratitude they feel now “doesn’t negate the injustice and the pain” of the ordeal.
Baldoni, best known for “Jane the Virgin,” has kept a low profile since the suit was filed, relocating with his family to Nashville and going quiet on social media apart from a brief anniversary post last year. He has not announced new acting or directing work since the case began. Reps for Lively did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the video. The couple closed their message by saying there’s “so much more to say,” promising a fuller account “when the time comes.”
