Justin Baldoni Says He ‘Wasn’t In the Best Place’ After ‘Intense’ ‘It Ends With Us’ Year

Justin Baldoni admitted he was “not in the best place” after what he described as “an intense year” in a podcast interview he recorded last November — before the start of his legal dispute with It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively. 

Baldoni appears on the latest episode of the Gent’s Talk Podcast, which was released on Monday, Feb. 10, but was originally recorded back in November 2024. At that point, the drama of the summer press tour for It Ends With Us (released in August 2024) had largely receded into the background, though the experience still appeared to be weighing on Baldoni. 

The actor/filmmaker recalled texting his two friends and colleagues, James Heath and Tera Hanks — the CEO and president of Baldoni’s production company, Wayfarer Studios, respectively — that morning: “I told them that I wasn’t in the best place,” Baldoni said. “I told them that I was exhausted.”

A few moments later, Baldoni added that when he sent the text, his “heart was racing,” and he was grappling with “some anxiety.”

While he did not provide any specifics, Baldoni said he realized that he had not “given myself time to recover or time to heal.” He continued: “I had an intense year. A lot of material success and a lot of emotional stress. It 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.”

Referring back to something the host had said earlier, Baldoni admitted it’s “easy to… fall back into our programming and be swept away in the current of self and be overtaken by the way of success and opportunity.”

About a month after the interview was filmed, Lively accused Baldoni of on-set harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her. Baldoni has denied the allegations and not only countersued Lively for defamation but filed a separate libel complaint against The New York Times for a story it ran about Lively’s original allegations. (A couple of additional lawsuits involving others in the spat have also been filed.)

As it stands, Lively’s original suit is scheduled to head to trial on March 9, 2026, though the presiding judge recently said it could start earlier unless the attorneys for the two parties curb their comments to the press.