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Justin Baldoni has spoken publicly for the first time since his legal battle with 'It Ends With Us' co-star Blake Lively concluded earlier this year, sharing an emotional message alongside his wife, Emily Baldoni, in a nearly five-minute Instagram video.
The actor and filmmaker, who directed and starred in 'It Ends With Us', said he and his wife had deliberately chosen to remain silent throughout the legal proceedings despite having "a lot" they wanted to say. "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, 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," Baldoni said. His statement comes more than two months after he and Blake Lively reached a settlement, weeks before the case involving alleged sexual harassment on the set of 'It Ends With Us' was scheduled to go to trial. The legal dispute ended with Baldoni being ordered by the court to pay Lively's attorneys' fees, with no additional damages awarded, as per The Hollywood Reporter. Reflecting on the past two years, the couple said gratitude had helped them navigate the experience. However, Emily Baldoni stressed that gratitude did not erase the pain they had endured. "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. So much to unpack. And the reality is that there's been a lot of trauma for us to move through as a family, which also makes it hard to speak," she said. Justin Baldoni added that the couple intentionally stayed away from public commentary while the legal process unfolded. "There's been so many painful things that have been spoken into existence over the last couple years, and that created so much noise, and we didn't want to add to the noise. We just wanted to let the justice system run its course," he said. Emily Baldoni also stated that "the truth and the facts have spoken for themselves." Providing an update on their lives after the case, Baldoni said the family is focused on recovery. "We are healing," he said, adding, "And if you've ever been through something traumatic, you know that healing isn't linear. It looks different every day. And we have had to rethink for ourselves what is real and what matters. And it's this. It's the kids. It's our family. It's our friends. It's our community who've been there for us. It's our faith. I think we're closer and more devoted and steadfast in our faith than we've ever been." https://www.instagram.com/p/DajZGpGx7dh/ He also thanked supporters who stood by the couple during the legal battle. "There were so many of you who, when we didn't have a voice, were our voice," Baldoni said, adding, "You had a prayer at the very beginning, which was that you just pray that people would have discernment. And so many of you had discernment and you used your intuition and you trusted that. And you have given your time to fight for us. And thank you does not feel like enough, but we're here in large part because of so many of you and all of our friends and family." Concluding the video, the couple said they have "so much more to say," but their immediate priority is "continuing the healing and hanging out with our kiddos and enjoying life." (ANI)
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