Justin Baldoni’s Emotional Interview Isn’t Helping His Case Against Blake Lively

Baldoni was not only the male lead of the film, but also its director. He has been accused of sexual harassment and body shaming on the set of the film by the “Gossip Girl” alum, who filed a lawsuit against him months after the film’s premiere.

Baldoni, meanwhile, has countersued, claiming that Lively used her famous friends – namely her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and close friend Taylor Swift – to take creative control of the movie.

Although Baldoni has been able to poke holes in many of Lively’s claims so far, his emotional interview isn’t doing him any favors.

Baldoni appeared on the Monday, February 10 episode of the Gent’s Talk Podcast to talk about his “intense” year.

“This morning, I sent a text message to my best friend Jamey and the president of my company, Tera, and I told them that I wasn’t in the best place,” Baldoni said in comments transcribed by Peoplemagazine. “I told them that I was exhausted, that I haven’t given myself time to recover or time to heal.”

It’s worth noting that Jamey Heath is the CEO of Wayfarer Studios, while Tera Hanks is the president of the production company that produced the film. Lively has named Baldoni, Wayfarer, Heath, and others in her lawsuit.

Baldoni said he still has “love” for his company, adding, “A lot of material success and a lot of emotional stress was very hard on me and my family. I wear a lot of hats, and I carry a lot because I love what I do.”

“I love the people that work for us. I love the movies that we make. I love the impact that we have and yet sometimes it’s easy to, as you said earlier, fall back into our programming and be swept away in the current of self and be kind of overtaken by the wave of success and opportunity,” Baldoni said.

He detailed some of the elements of anxiety that he was dealing with, such as waking up at 4:30 in the morning with his “heart racing.” After he realized that he was “not in the best place,” Baldoni admitted that he “just haven’t given myself the time to heal from this year that I needed.”

Baldoni also called himself a “work in progress” and explained that he is “always trying to be radically sincere and authentic to myself” to “have the most impact.”

He went on to say, “And sometimes I can get lost in the same way that everybody gets lost, but healing isn’t linear, and growth isn’t linear, and if you don’t have setbacks and if you don’t have plateaus, then you don’t have the opportunity to group and to push forward.”

It goes without saying that Justin Baldoni is in a difficult situation. The sexual harassment accusations that he’s currently facing could shut down his Hollywood career for good. While he is a victim (if Lively’s claims are indeed false), jumping on a podcast to portray yourself as such is never the right move. It’ll be as successful as Alec Baldwin was when he did an ABC News interview with George Stephanopoulos less than two weeks after the death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust.” His supporters claimed he was clearly a victim of circumstance, while others accused him of lying for sympathy.

Baldoni needs to remember that the people who believe him are already in his corner. Telling the world about his anxiety might get him sympathy from fans, but it won’t get him anything from Lively’s supporters. In this case, it can only be used against him. Lively’s team can argue that his anxiety is caused by his own guilt after his allegedly inappropriate actions became public. It may be true, it may be false, but the world of public opinion isn’t a courthouse. The facts will present themselves at the trial, or during carefully leaked pieces of evidence from Baldoni’s legal team.

When it comes to a case as sensitive as this, Baldoni needs to keep quiet and let his legal team speak for him. Lively’s negative press tour is already proof that words have staying power. It’s understandable that he wants to clear his name, but given the trail of evidence already out there, the public is already on his side. All it takes is one incriminating slip of the tongue for him to lose all of the goodwill he’s already earned.

With a court date still over a year away, it can be frustrating to sit back and wait for the justice system to run its course, but it must be done. His career wasn’t built in a day, but if he’s not careful with the way he presents himself, it could end in one.