Justin Louis Baldoni (born January 24, 1984)[1] is an American actor and director. He is best known for his role portraying Rafael Solano on the CW telenovela Jane the Virgin (2014–2019). He has since directed romantic drama films such as Five Feet Apart (2019), and Clouds (2020).
He also directed and starred opposite Blake Lively in romance drama It Ends with Us (2024), adapted from the Colleen Hoover book of the same name.[2][3] The film was a box-office hit despite receiving mixed reviews.[4] The filming was subject to substantive media attention and as of December 2024, both Lively and Baldoni have filed lawsuits related to the production of the film. The New York Times reported Lively's allegations against Baldoni of widespread sexual harassment and retaliation to which he responded by suing them accusing them of libel over their reporting.[5][6][7]
Baldoni co-founded the production company, Wayfarer Entertainment in 2019. Through his company he has produced and co-hosted the Man Enough podcast. He has also published two books centering on male privilege and toxic masculinity.[8]
Early life
Baldoni was born in Los Angeles, California, and was raised in Medford, Oregon to parents Sharon (née Solomon) and Sam Baldoni.[9][10] His mother is Jewish,[11] born to Ashkenazi Jewish parents Blanche (née Katz) and Daniel Solomon from Cleveland in Ohio, with roots in Central and Eastern Europe.[12][10] Baldoni is therefore considered Jewish according to halacha (Jewish law), as Orthodox Judaism practices matrilineal descent.[13] His maternal grandfather served in the Second World War and Baldoni lost relatives in the Holocaust.[13] His father, Sam is from an Italian Catholic background.[14] His paternal grandfather is Louis Baldoni, a former Indiana state senator and Italian immigrant.[15] Baldoni was raised celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah in honour of his Jewish and Catholic grandparents.[13][14] However, he was raised practicing Baháʼí Faith, the faith which both his parents had converted to before he was born.[13][14] Baldoni has visited Israel several times on Baháʼí pilgrimages.[14]
Baldoni played soccer and ran track in high school, and was a radio disc jockey at a local top 40 radio station. While moving into a new apartment building, Baldoni met a manager who advised him to pursue a career in acting.[16] He attended college at California State University, Long Beach on a partial athletic scholarship, but later dropped out.[17] In December 2024, Baldoni alleged he had "experienced sexual trauma" in a previous relationship when he was attending university. He said that he "wrestled with that trauma for the rest of my life, because in my head a man can't experience sexual trauma at the hands of a woman."[18]
Career
2004–2018: Early roles and Jane the Virgin
Baldoni made his acting debut in the soap opera The Young and the Restless in 2004. In 2008, Baldoni wrote, produced, and directed his first music video that was selected and won him his first "Audience Choice Award" at Dawn Breakers International Film Festival.[19] In 2012, Baldoni created a digital documentary series, My Last Days, a show about living—as told by the dying.[20][21] The show eventually became one of the most-watched YouTube documentary series streamed online.[22] The second season of My Last Days aired on CW and third season was released in the winter of 2018. On the heels of that success Baldoni founded Wayfarer Entertainment, a digital media studio focused on disruptive inspiration.[23] In December 2018, Baldoni spoke at the annual End Well Symposium about why he believes that thinking about our death can help us live better.[24]
In July 2017, Variety announced that Baldoni was developing a talk show through his media company Wayfarer Entertainment. The show, entitled Man Enough, is described as a disruptive panel series that explores what it means to be a man today.[37] Eight 25-minute episodes were to be distributed on the internet.[38] In 2021, Baldoni released a book under the same premise.[39] He began a podcast series under the same name with co-hosts Liz Plank and Jamey Heath. A children's version of the book Boys Will Be Human was released in October 2022.[40] Plank left the podcast in 2024 after The New York Times reported allegations that Baldoni sexually harassedBlake Lively. Plank wrote in a statement, "I will continue to support everyone who calls out injustice and holds the people standing in their way accountable".[41]
Wayfarer Studios
Baldoni co-founded a production company called Wayfarer Entertainment that produces television, films, and digital content. In 2019, Wayfarer sold a majority stake in the company to investment fund 4S Bay Partners, setting up a $25 million content fund,[42][43] and was renamed Wayfarer Studios in 2020.[44] The most successful project to-date of the studio is the 2024 romance drama It Ends with Us, that Baldoni directs and stars in. The film has grossed $391 million at the box office.[45] The studios also partnered with the nonprofit No More, to provide resources and information related to the domestic abuse shown in the film.[46]
In 2014, Baldoni through Wayfarer Studios's philanthropic branch, Wayfarer Foundation started the annual Skid Row Carnival of Love in downtown Los Angeles.[47][48] The event served between 4 and 5, 000 homeless individuals living around Skid Row providing career services such as "housing services, domestic violence services, dental and medical exams, an eye clinic, haircuts, and massages" and other festivities such as face-painting, live concerts, and children's activities.[47]
Personal life
After almost two years of dating, Baldoni married Swedish actress Emily Foxler, now known as Emily Baldoni.[49] He proposed to her in a 27-minute video which he released on his production companies YouTube channel where it went viral. He described it as "his first movie".[50][51][52] The couple married in July 2013 in Corona, California.[53] Together they have a daughter and a son.[54][55]
Baldoni is a member of the Baháʼí Faith and has stated that for him it's a "daily source of inner happiness".[56] He has stated that he has ADHD.[57][58] He has previously written and spoken about his struggles with Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD).[59][60] Baldoni is on the Board of Ambassadors of the Tahirih Justice Center, a nonprofit advocating for women, girls, and all immigrant survivors of gender-based violence.[61]
It Ends with Us controversy
Allegation of sexual harassment
On December 20, 2024, actress Blake Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni, with whom she co-starred in It Ends with Us (2024), for sexual harassment and retaliation.[62] In the complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Department, Lively alleged that Baldoni had improvised unwanted kissing during filming and created a hostile work environment through inappropriate sexual comments and boundary violations.[36] Prior to the resumption of filming after the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, Wayfarer Studios had agreed to implement safeguards that included providing a full-time intimacy coordinator and bringing in an outside producer.[36]
Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, had a sit-down meeting to address their demands of Wayfarer Studios, which were reported to include "not showing nude videos or images of women to Lively; no more mentions of Baldoni's alleged previous 'pornography addiction'; no more discussions about sexual experiences in front of Lively and others; no further mentions of cast and crew's genitalia; and no more inquiries about Lively's weight."[63][64] According to documents reviewed by The New York Times, after Lively raised concerns, Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath hired crisis management experts who allegedly coordinated efforts to "destroy" Lively's reputation through social media campaigns and strategic media placement.[36] Baldoni has denied the accusations, and his lawyer, Bryan Freedman, produced a statement describing Lively's claims as "completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious".[65] Baldoni's publicist acknowledged his PR team had "sophomorically reveled" in the Lively coverage but insisted that "although we were prepared, we didn’t have to do anything over the top to protect our client."[66]
Response and fallout
On December 21, 2024, the talent agencyWME dropped Baldoni as a client.[62][67]Colleen Hoover, the author of the novel on which the film is based, released a personal statement supporting Lively.[68] The actors' union SAG-AFTRA also stood by Lively, releasing a statement that read in part, "We applaud [her] courage in speaking out on issues of retaliation and harassment and for her request to have an intimacy coordinator for all scenes with nudity or sexual content. This is an important step that helps ensure a safe set."[69] Baldoni, who was to receive the Voices of Solidarity Award, had it rescinded by its sponsor, Vital Voices, which stated the reporting between Baldoni and his publicists have been "alone, contrary to the values of Vital Voices and the spirit of the Award".[70] Baldoni's Man Enough co-host Liz Plank resigned from their podcast.[71]Sony Pictures released a statement standing by Lively, adding, "[W]e strongly condemn any reputational attacks on her. Any such attacks have no place in our business or in a civil society."[72]
On December 24, Stephanie Jones, Baldoni's former publicist, filed a lawsuit in New York City alleging both breach of contract and defamation against Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and her former employees.[73] Jones claimed she was forced out of representing Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios amid concerns about Lively going public with misconduct accusations. The lawsuit alleges that Abel and Nathan, former employees of Jones’ PR firm, conspired for months to undermine Jones and her PR firm, Jonesworks, by stealing clients and prospects while blaming her for their smear campaign. It cites text messages and emails retrieved from Abel's company-issued phone, obtained after her firing, which coincided with the firm's separation from Baldoni and Wayfarer.[73]
In response to Lively's legal filing, Freedman maintained that the claims were "completely false" and also suggested the text messages shared by Jones were "cherry-picked" to make his clients look unfavorable.[74][75] According to Freedman, the text messages have been presented out of context by Jones and Lively in a way that alters their meaning; he also stated that he has "never seen this level of unethical behavior intentionally fueled through media manipulation." [76]
Lively's lawsuit against Baldoni
On December 31, 2024, Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, alleging that he and his public relations team had marshaled a sophisticated, multi-tiered plan to undermine her reputation in retaliation for speaking up about sexual misconduct on the set of the film. The complaint names Baldoni; his film studio, Wayfarer; and the two public relations representatives, Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel. Lively's attorneys issued a statement claiming that "Wayfarer and its associates have violated federal and California state law by retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns". The statement also alleged that Baldoni initiated unwelcome physical advances, writing, "When Ms. Lively or others avoided this touching, Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath would retaliate by becoming irritated, cold, and uncollaborative. The result was an unwelcoming and mercurial environment for Ms. Lively, her employees, and others on set".[77]
Baldoni's lawsuit against The New York Times
In response to the allegations and reporting surrounding them, Baldoni filed a lawsuit against The New York Times alleging that the newspaper had "cherry-picked" and altered communications, which had been "stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead". A spokesperson for the Times responded in a statement that read in part, "Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article. To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed to a single error. We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit."[78]
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