The dispute between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively that started on the set of the 2024 film, “It Ends With Us,” hasn’t quite ended ― yet.
After the movie’s release, Lively, one of the producers, accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, and he responded with accusations of defamation and extortion.
The two parties agreed to settle their contentious, highly publicized legal battle back in May, in part because a judge tossed out Baldoni’s lawsuit, as were most of Lively’s claims.
Baldoni hadn’t spoken publicly about the case or the settlement until Wednesday when he and his wife, Emily Baldoni, took to Instagram to, as she put it, address “the injustice and the pain that we have also felt in the last few years.”
In the video, the director notes that neither he nor his wife have spoken publicly for the past two years, but stressed, “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, and we were talking about it, and feeling into it, and praying about it, and …”
Emily Baldoni interjected, saying, “And this feels like the moment.”
After the couple expressed gratitude for the people who supported them over the past two years, Emily Baldoni admitted that it doesn’t take away the pain.
“And 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,” she said. “So much to unpack, and the truth is, reality is, is that there’s been a lot of trauma for us to move through as a family, which also makes it hard to speak.”
The couple then obliquely hinted at what Justin Baldoni described as the “many painful things that have been spoken into existence.”
After Justin Baldoni said they wanted the justice system to run its course before going public, Emily Baldoni noted, “The truth and the facts have spoken for themselves. And here we are,” before laughing.
The conversation then transitioned to how the Baldoni family was doing.
“We are, we are healing, and if you’ve ever been through something traumatic, you know that healing isn’t linear,” Justin Baldoni said. “It looks different every day. And we have had to rethink for ourselves what is real and what matters.”
After praising his family, friends and his community, Baldoni said he and Emily are “closer and more devoted and steadfast in our faith than we’ve ever been.”
After a few more remarks, Emily Baldoni said that she and her husband have “so much more to say … and that time will come, but for now we are going to focus on continuing the healing and hanging out with our kiddos and enjoying life and …”
Justin Baldoni then interjected, adding, in conclusion, “And ending this four-minute and 47-, 48-second video.”
You can see the complete video below.