Actor Justin Baldoni and his wife, Emily, lamented trauma and pain endured by their family in their first public remarks after a long-running legal battle with co-star Blake Lively.
In May, Lively and Baldoni settled a lawsuit after the 2024 movie It Ends With Us, ending a contentious streak of accusations. The lawsuit alleged he sexually harassed her on set and launched a retaliatory smear campaign.
“There have been so many painful things that have been spoken into existence over the last couple years,” Baldoni said in a video this week.
A judge dismissed Lively’s harassment claims. They settled her retaliation allegations. Lively has said the case highlighted respectful treatment on set.
Baldoni and his wife smiled and chuckled through the nearly five-minute long video released on Instagram on Wednesday.
“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,” Baldoni said. “Because Lord knows we have.
Emily added: “There has been a lot of trauma for us to move through as a family, which also makes it hard to speak.”
She said the resolution of the case seemed the right time.
“The truth and the facts have spoken for themselves and here we are,” she said.
“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.”
Lively filed the lawsuit against Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, in December 2024.
Baldoni filed a $400m (£298.5m) counter-lawsuit against Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, alleging defamation and extortion.
US District Judge Lewis Liman threw out 10 of 13 allegations in Lively’s case, determining she could not bring the claims, including sexual harassment, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as she was an independent contractor rather than an employee. Judge Liman also dismissed the entirety of Baldoni’s counter-lawsuit.
The two reached a settlement on the remaining allegations, which included breach of contract and retaliation, less than two weeks before their civil trial in New York was due to begin.
Lively said afterward that filing suit was the “last thing” she had wanted.
“But I brought this case because of the pervasive RETALIATION I faced, and continue to, for privately and professionally asking for a safe working environment for myself and others,” she said.
The BBC has reached out to Lively’s legal team for comment.
In the video released on Wednesday, the Baldonis said they are grateful for support they received.
“We can genuinely say that we are sitting here today feeling immense gratitude for so many things and so many people,” Emily Baldoni said.
Justin Baldoni said the family is healing: “We feel so loved.”
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