Justin Baldoni comments cast in a VERY different light after lawsuit

Justin Baldoni revealed he wanted to 'gaslight' his audience in an interview about the blockbuster at the centre of Blake Lively's sexual harassment lawsuit against him, It Ends With Us. 

In an episode of How to Fail with Elizabeth Day, which was released on December 4, Baldoni, who directed and starred as a domestic abuser in the Colleen Hoover adaptation, also waxed lyrical about how he didn't want his film to lead to women being judged - as Lively now accuses him of orchestrating a 'smear campaign' against her around the time the movie was released.

'We have enough women judging women, we have enough men judging women,' the actor, 40, said during the interview with the award-winning podcaster.

It Ends With Us tells the story of Lily Bloom, played by Blake Lively, and confronting the trauma of domestic abuse inflicted by her husband, Ryle Kincaid, played by Baldoni. 

It became the most talked-about film of the year, although not for its content, after rumours emerged of a rift between Lively, 37, and Baldoni on set. 

Now Lively has sensationally accused her director and co-star of orchestrating a 'smear campaign' against her in a sexual harassment lawsuit in which she has made explosive allegations including that Baldoni showed her explicit videos and photos of other women, openly discussed his struggles with pornography, and made inappropriate remarks about her appearance and weight during filming.

Lively's accusations cast new light on comments made by her co-star on the podcast epiode, where he also discussed 'trauma' of taking on the role of an abuser as he felt the character 'lived in [his] body' during filming.

The Jane The Virgin actor also discussed experiences of 'abuse' and his ADHD diagnosis at the age of 40 on the podcast. 

During the interview, Baldoni placed emphasis on how he wanted the film to bring to light the quieter, more insidious parts of domestic violence that are 'not talked about enough'.

'One in three women globally is an astounding number. If anything was happening to one in three men, the problem would have been solved a long time ago.

'So I felt like we had to talk about it. It's kind of kept in the shadows.'

'I didn't want people to judge [Lively's character] Lily. I think we have enough women judging women, we have enough men judging women, for staying in these relationships - and these relationships are very complex. 

'They are not black and white, they are filed with nuance and manipulation and real love, which is not talked about enough when you talk about abusive relationships.

'My thought was that if you show Ryle abusing Lily in the first 30 minutes of the movie, it would make it very hard for an audience to not form a negative opinion about her.'  

During the interview, he also added that he wanted the audience to 'fall in love', with his character Ryle, who was abusing Lily, only then to 'have the rug pulled out from under you' when it becomes clear later in the plot that the character is abusive.

Baldoni insisted he had made effort to create a 'realistic' depiction of abuse, speaking to victims of domestic violence and speaking to No More foundation, a non-profit charity that aims to end domestic and sexual violence. 

'I really wanted an audience to feel how it feels to be gas lit, to feel what it was like to question if everything they saw was a lie and if everything they felt wasn't true because that is the reality for so many women.'

He also told the novelist and podcaster that he struggled while playing the role of Ryle, and had to 'walk out' during several scenes.

Baldoni said he had experienced 'trauma' from playing Ryle - a character who is written to have accidentally killed his brother in childhood.

'What's hard about having that in your body is having the trauma live in your body from what he has experienced and creating that trauma in your body and insecurity and pain and the feeling that you shouldn't actually be alive.'

'That was very hard. It took a few months. I had dreams about him for a while, he lived in my body but I think for the most part he's out.' 

Baldoni shared his own experiences with 'trauma' and his struggles of feeling like there 'was something wrong' with him, following his late diagnosis of ADHD. 

He said: ‘No matter how much work I did, I felt like there was something wrong wit me. What I realised is that I lived like I had a deficit, that iI wasn't like everyone else.'

Prior to his diagnosis, which he received this year, Baldoni described the impact of his ADHD has 'inflicting pain on others'. 

He said he 'harmed myself quite a bit over the course of my life' over whether or not it was ADHD, so the diagnosis 'gave me so much compassion for myself.' 

Describing how he felt prior to making the discovery, he said: ‘That pain causes people to inflict more pain, on myself and others.'

The actor, who said he chose to direct the film in efforts to shed light on the 'manipulation' that goes on in abusive relationships, said he struggles to 'forgive himself' for having spent time away from his family while filming the now controversial film.

Baldoni met his Swedish wife of 11 years, Emily Fuxler, in 2011 and the couple share two children; nine-year-old daughter Maiya Grace Baldoni and seven-year-old son Maxwell Roland-Samuel Baldoni. 

He admitted filming the movie was 'devastatingly difficult for many reasons', but most notably because of the time he was forced to take out from his family, which he said he now had a hard time 'forgiving myself for'.

Baldoni admitted he was struggling to forgive himself for the how 'lonely' his wife Emily - who played a small role in the film herself - felt while he was away for the nearly two years it took to complete the production. 

'I missed some of the most important things that if I could give anything I would go back in time and experience,' he said.

‘I took on the role of the provider and we ended up in very stereotypical gender roles without having ever talked about it… she was doing the invisible work of motherhood and I missed so much,' he said. 

He said missing time away from his family is 'the one thing I can never get back'. 

'One of the things that makes me the most sad is how lonely she was during all of this.

'I think our world and culture and society could do a better job of two things. Holding space for how lonely it is to be a mother, it's no longer a village raising a child its a single mother.

'And I think we also need to hold space for how lonely it can be to be a man, who's trying to provide for that mother or family.

'Instead of ranking who is more tired, who's more this or who's more that. Being able to see, wow, you felt really alone when I was off building my career and I'm so sorry. 

'And for her to say, you felt so alone and you missed so much and then being able to come together and realise we still have time to heal. Those are the things I'm doing now to make sure I don't repeat the failures tomorrow.'

Ms Lively's lawsuit includes shocking allegations that Baldoni, 40, showed her explicit videos and images of other women, discussed his purported porn addiction, and made inappropriate comments about her weight, among other troubling remarks directed at the cast and crew.

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In one particularly egregious detail, Lively's legal team claims that Baldoni introduced 'improvised gratuitous sexual content and/or scenes involving nudity' into the film, including one involving an underage character, in a deeply unsettling manner before filming even began.

Baldoni is also accused of trying 'improvised physical intimacy' during a scene without prior discussion or choreography.

One incident allegedly involved Baldoni 'discreetly biting and sucking on Ms. Lively's lower lip' during multiple takes, allegedly insisting on reshooting the scene repeatedly despite Lively's clear discomfort.

The lawsuit alleges Baldoni made sexual inquiries, including asking Lively if she and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, experienced simultaneous sexual climaxes— a question she claims she refused to answer.

These new allegations add to the already troubling claims against Baldoni, who has continued to deny all accusations.

The allegations extend to the film's producer, Jamey Heath, who is accused of compounding the toxic environment.