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A new report has detailed how Justin Baldoni’s Baha’i faith may have contributed to the strife on the set of It Ends With Us. Baldoni and his It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively are currently suing each other for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Late last year, Blake Lively filed a lawsuit against Justin Baldoni that alleged inappropriate behavior on set, harassment and a running smear campaign against her. In response, Baldoni filed $400 million countersuit again Lively, husband Ryan Reynolds and Lively’s PR rep Leslie Sloane that alleged extortion, defamation and breach of contract. Baldoni also sued The New York Times for $250 million for libel.
Now, a strange report from The Hollywood Reporter — perhaps the latest chess move in an ongoing PR war, that’s how bizarre the reporting is — suggests that Justin Baldoni’s belief in the Baha’i religion might have “been one big cultural misunderstanding” on the set.
The Bahá’í Faith is religion founded in the mid-19th century by Bahá’u’lláh in Persia that emphasizes the unity of all religions, the oneness of humanity, and the importance of justice, equality, and peace. The Bahá’í Faith is estimated to 5-8 million followers across the world.
“Baldoni has made no secret about his devotion to the Baha’i faith, which is based on notions of humanity, universalism and gender equality….Baldoni has his own unique way of communicating and behaving, much of it informed by the tenor of his religion. His unique mannerisms have at times come into conflict with Hollywood’s current ethos, which in the wake of the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements and the COVID pandemic has become far more rigid, uniform and policed.” [via The Hollywood Reporter]
One particularly eye-opening section alleges that Baldoni’s faith allows him to speak with the dead, which is something that he claimed to be able to do while on set.
“In her suit, Lively also accused Baldoni of claiming that he ‘could speak to the dead’ and informed her that he had talked to her late father, who passed away in 2021. That tracks with a 2017 video lecture Baldoni gave as part of a Baha’i Teachings series entitled What If Birth and Death Are Actually the Same?“
Legal teams for Baldoni and Lively have appeared in front of a judge for pre-trial hearings earlier this year, with the judge indicating the trial would begin in March 2026.