(L-R) Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively.Photo:Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
“This morning, I sent a text message to my best friend Jamey and the president of my company, Tera, and I told them that I wasn’t in the best place,” Baldoni said on the podcast. “I told them that I was exhausted, that I haven’t given myself time to recover or time to heal.”
Jamey Heath is the CEO of Wayfarer Studios and Tera Hanks is presidentof the production company.
Baldoni, who also directedIt Ends with Us, said his emotions were the result of “an intense year.”
Araya Doheny/Variety via Getty
“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,” he said, noting that he has “love” for his company.
He explained that after waking up at 4:30 in the morning with his “heart racing,” he realized that he was dealing with “some anxiety” and “not in the best place.”
After checking in with himself, Baldoni said he was reminded that he needed to prioritize his time and “just haven’t given myself the time to heal from this year that I needed.”
He said that “in the spirit of vulnerability,” he shared the same message with his assistant and a similar text message with his publicist, Jennifer Abel.
The actor shared that he is a “work in progress,” who is “always trying to be radically sincere and authentic to myself” to “have the most impact.”
“And sometimes I can get lost in the same way that everybody gets lost, but healing isn’t linear, and growth isn’t linear, and if you don’t have setbacks and if you don’t have plateaus, then you don’t have the opportunity to group and to push forward,” said Baldoni.
Blake Lively.SplashNews.com
SplashNews.com
The podcast’s release comes amid Baldoni’s ongoing legal battle with Lively.
On December 21, Lively named Wayfarer, Baldoni, Heath, Abel and others in her lawsuit.
On December 31, BaldonisuedThe New York Timesfor $250 million, alleging libel, false light invasion of privacy, promissory fraud and breach of implied-in-fact contract, after the outlet published a story titled “We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine” about the allegations against him.
A month later, Baldonifiled another lawsuitsuing Lively, her husband,Ryan Reynolds, their publicist Leslie Sloane and Sloane’s PR firm Vision PR, Inc. for $400 million, on claims of civil extortion and defamation, among other claims.
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Baldoni and Lively arescheduled for trialon March 9, 2026.
source: people.com
