Justin Baldoni’s younger sister has praised the It Ends with Us actor and director’s “dedication to truth” amid his ongoing legal battle with co-star Blake Lively.
In her first Instagram post in over a year, Sara Baldoni shared a photo of the two of them embracing in celebration of Baldoni’s recent 41st birthday.
“Happy birthday JB,” she wrote in the caption. “I love you and I celebrate you — the man you are, the love you embody, the strength of your connection to God, the essence of your being, your dedication to truth, to service and to love — today and all days.
She added: “I am so proud to call you my big brother and annoyingly squeeze the hell out of you until the end of time.”
The post comes days after Baldoni’s wife, Emily, also broke her Instagram silence to honor the Jane the Virgin alum on his January 24 birthday.
“Happy birthday my love. Celebrating the man, husband, and father that you are. I’d choose you again and again,” she wrote alongside a photo of them and their two children on a beach.
Baldoni is currently being sued by Lively, 37, who accuses him of sexual harassment and deploying a campaign to “destroy” her reputation months after the release of their box office hit.
He has since filed a $400 million countersuit accusing the Gossip Girl star and her husband Ryan Reynolds of attempting to destroy his reputation and career.
Lively’s legal team responded to Baldoni’s lawsuit, calling it an “age-old story” of “the abuser attempt[ing] to turn the tables on the victim.”
“This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender,” they told The Independent in a statement.
In an attempt to clear his name, Baldoni’s legal team released a seven-minute-long unedited behind-the-scenes clip showing Lively and Baldoni’s interaction while shooting a romantic dance scene for the film.
In the clip, the two are seen engaging in friendly conversation before Baldoni nuzzles his nose into Lively’s neck and comments that she “smells good.”
Lively swiftly released a statement in response to the unedited footage, calling it “damning” evidence supporting her allegations.
“Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt will get ahead of the damaging evidence against him, but the video itself is damning,” Lively’s legal team told MailOnline, who obtained the video.
According to Lively’s legal team, “every frame of the released footage corroborates, to the letter,” what the actor “described” in her original complaint.
In her lawsuit, it’s stated that there was a meeting attended by Lively, Reynolds, Baldoni and their lawyers to address her claims.
Lively had a number of requirements in order for her to work on the film that included “no more inquiries about Blake’s weight,” as well as “no more showing nude videos or images of women to Blake, no more mention of Baldoni’s alleged previous ‘pornography addiction,’ no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mentions of cast and crew’s genitalia.”
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, has called Lively’s allegations “false and defamatory.”
