Even months before he and his “It Ends With Us” co-star Blake Lively filed lawsuits against each other, Justin Baldoni was candid about struggling through a challenging year.
Baldoni, who also directed “It Ends With Us,” got emotional discussing his exhaustive frame of mind during a just-released interview on the “Gent’s Talk” podcast that was originally recorded in November 2024.
“This morning I sent a text message to my best friend Jamey and the president of my company, Tara. And I told them that I wasn’t in the best place. I told them that I was exhausted, that I hadn’t given myself time to recover or time to heal,” said Baldoni.
“I had an intense year,” Baldoni explained. “A lot of material success and a lot of emotional stress, it was very hard on me and my family.”
Though Baldoni didn’t directly reference his allegedly troubled relationship with Lively, he shared that he had woken up at 4:30 a.m. that morning with his heart “racing” with stress.
Baldoni mentioned again that he needed to “heal from this year” and focus on his mental health.
The former “Jane the Virgin” star added that he also texted his assistant and his publicist that day to tell them “in the spirit of vulnerability” that he was having a tough time.
Baldoni and Lively co-starred in “It Ends With Us,” which tells the story of a couple whose picture-perfect romance is marred by domestic violence.
When the two actors began promoting the movie separately in August 2024, it sparked rumors of a rift.
On Dec. 20, 2024, Lively filed a sexual harassment complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department, alleging that she’d been the victim of a publicity smear campaign after complaining about Baldoni’s behavior on the movie’s set. In a statement to TODAY.com, Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, responded to Lively’s claims by saying they were “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious.”
Baldoni and his publicists responded on Dec. 31, 2024, by suing The New York Times for libel over an article it published about Lively’s sexual harassment complaint. In response, the New York Times stated that they “plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
The same day, Lively filed a federal sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and his publicists.
On Jan. 16, Baldoni sued Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and her publicist, accusing them of defamation. In a statement to NBC News that same day, Lively’s legal team said, in part, the lawsuit was “another chapter in the abuser playbook.”
Baldoni followed up on Jan. 31 by filing a timeline and amended complaint that named Lively, Reynolds, publicist Leslie Sloane, Sloane’s company Vision PR and the New York Times, calling them all “consolidated defendants.”
Baldoni alleged in the amended complaint that The New York Times may have been working on a story about Lively’s complaint for “months before” she filed it.
Earlier this month, Baldoni launched a website, titled “Lawsuit Info,” that included a “timeline of relevant events” that took place behind the scenes on “It Ends With Us.”
Both Baldoni and Lively’s lawsuits will be addressed together in a single trial set to begin March 9, 2026.