Justin Baldoni has finally addressed his legal battle with his It Ends with Us co-star, Blake Lively.
In May, the actor-director and the former Gossip Girl actress announced that they had settled a lawsuit related to a dispute over allegations of smear campaigns and a hostile work environment on the set of the 2024 film. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, Justin and his wife, Emily Baldoni, posted a two-minute video in which they publicly spoke about the lawsuit for the first time.
"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," he began. "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, and we were talking about it and feeling into it and praying about it."
Justin went on to note that he and Emily, 41, wouldn't be discussing all of the details of the dispute at this time but wanted to express "immense gratitude" to their supporters.
"Gratitude has saved us," the 42-year-old declared, while Emily admitted there is still "so much to unpack".
"(Our gratitude) doesn't negate the injustice and the pain that we have also felt in the last few years. 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," she continued.
Elsewhere in the clip, Emily noted that she and her husband have a "lot of trauma" to process.
"We don't even know if this is the right thing to say," the Jane the Virgin star replied. "We just know we need to share something. What I will say is that there have been so many painful things that have been spoken into existence over the last couple of years. That created so much noise, and we didn't want to add to the noise. So, we just wanted to let the justice system run its course."
To conclude, Justin - who shares two children with Emily - insisted that the Baldoni family is now focused on "healing".
"So many of you had discernment, and you used your intuition, and you trusted that," he stated. "You have given your time to fight for us. 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."
Representatives for Blake have not yet responded to the video.
In April, Judge Lewis Liman threw out 10 of the 38-year-old's 13 civil claims, including all allegations of harassment.
The ruling left three claims - retaliation, aiding and abetting retaliation, and breach of contract - to be decided by a jury at trial.
Justin denied all allegations filed against him and his production company, Wayfarer Studios.
However, the case isn't entirely over yet, as last month, Blake asked a federal judge to award her $8 million (£6 million) in legal fees and litigation costs.
Her legal team argued that the work involved in defending the lawsuit was "comprehensive and necessary to achieve the complete win that was secured", adding that The Age of Adaline actress "has paid, and continues to pay" her legal bills.
