"Exhausted" Justin Baldoni Said He Needs "Time To Heal" As Blake Lively Feud Unfolds

Following the release of It Ends With Us, and all the internet drama that surrounded the movie's press, Justin Baldoni admitted he was struggling — before Blake Lively ever filed her lawsuit. During a podcast taping in November 2024 (Blake sued Justin in December), the actor and director told Gent's Talk Podcast that he "wasn't in the best place" after an "intense" year.

Here's what It Ends With Us' Justin Baldoni said on his podcast appearance amid his Blake Lively feud.

Justin Baldoni wants 'It Ends With Us' to affect change in men.

In the interview, Justin Baldoni talks about the conversations around the movie, and wanting to reframe the question from "Why did she stay?" to "Why did he hurt her?"

"Violence against women as we know, is not woman's issue, it's a man's issue," he continues. And while he wants It Ends With Us to offer hope and empowerment for women to change their lives, he admits the "real reason underneath it all was to affect change in men."

But, as any It Ends With Us fan knows, the movie quickly went viral for its cast drama and legal battle between Justin and Blake. Even their co-star Brandon Sklenar has been vocal about how he wants "people to remember why we made the movie in the first place and what it stands for, and just keeping the focus on that."

Justin reveals during the podcast taping that "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...I told them that I was exhausted, that I haven't given myself time to recover or time to heal."

"A lot of material success and a lot of emotional stress was very hard on me and my family," he continues. "I wear a lot of hats, and I carry a lot because I love what I do...I love the people that work for us. I love the movies that we make. I love the impact that we have and yet sometimes it's easy to, as you said earlier, fall back into our programming and be swept away in the current of self and be kind of overtaken by the wave of success and opportunity."

Justin Baldoni has been vocal about his own growth as a human, and even apologized to Blake Lively in a voice memo, admitting he's "a very flawed man as my wife will attest," which means he's "gonna put my foot in my mouth [and] piss you off probably," but that he'll "always apologize and find my way back to center."

"Sometimes I can get lost in the same way that everybody gets lost, but healing isn't linear, and growth isn't linear," he tells Gent's Talk. "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."

Read up on why Blake Lively Is Prepared For A Year Of "Continued Drama" With It Ends With Us Legal Battle for more.