Justin Baldoni addresses emotional turmoil amid Blake Lively drama

A renowned actor and filmmaker, Justin Baldon, has revealed he was “not in the best place” amid Blake Lively’s lawsuit against him.

Baldoni appeared in an episode of the Gent's Talk podcast that came out on February 10.

The episode was recorded in November 2024, one month before Lively sued the Everwood actor, who also acted opposite her in the movie It Ends with Us.

She accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and claimed that he started a public smear campaign to "destroy" her reputation.

Speaking on the podcast, the Hollywood actor shared, "This morning, I sent a text message to my best friend Jamey Heath and the president of my company, Tera Hanks, and I told them that I wasn't in the best place.”

“I told them that I was exhausted, that I haven't given myself time to recover or time to heal,” Baldoni added, referring to his friends Jamey, who is the CEO of Wayfarer Studios, while Hanks is the president of the production company.

The 41-year-old star, who also directed It Ends with Us, admitted that he felt this way because of "an intense year."

He noted, “A lot of material success and a lot of emotional stress was very hard on me and my family. I wear a lot of hats, and I carry a lot because I love what I do.”

The Will and Harper actor mentioned that after waking up at 4:30 in the morning with his "heart racing,” he realised he had "some anxiety" and was "not in the best place."

After that Baldoni thought about how he was feeling and came to a realisation that he needed to take more time for himself, saying, “I just haven’t given myself the time to heal from this year that I needed."

For the unversed, on December 21, Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, Heath, his company, Wayfarer, and his publicist Jennifer Abel.

On December 31, Baldoni sued The New York Times for $250 million, claiming the newspaper lied about him, invaded his privacy, broke promises, and violated an agreement.

This happened after they published a story called We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine about the accusations against him.

A month later, Baldoni filed another lawsuit and this time, he sued Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, their publicist Leslie Sloane, and Sloane’s PR firm Vision PR, Inc. for $400 million.

It is pertinent to mention that in this lawsuit, he accused them of civil extortion, defamation, and other claims.