Justin Baldoni’s wife, Emily Baldoni, shared her first public statement since her husband’s messy legal battle with Blake Lively began to commemorate a special milestone.
“Happy birthday my love,” she captioned via Instagram Friday a photo of her kissing the “It Ends With Us” director as their son, Maxwell, 7, sat on his dad’s shoulders and daughter, Maiya, 9, hugged them both.
The Swedish actress, 40, added alongside the scenic photo of the family embracing each other in front of the ocean, “Celebrating the man, husband, and father that you are. I’d choose you again and again.”
This is the first time Emily has publicly expressed her support for Justin, 41, amid his legal war with Lively, 37, but it became clear this week she was sticking by him, as they were seen on a Hawaiian vacation.
The actor also previously shared how his loved ones were helping him get through tough times.
“We’re grateful to be with the family, man,” he told TMZ at the Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 17 as he headed out for his trip with Emily and their kids. “We have amazing friends and family and faith.”
Justin and Emily have been married since 2013. Their wedding vows recently went viral because the actor said in them, “I’m sorry for all my faults, my shortcomings, for my insecurities and my ego and for everything that I’ve ever done or said that’s hurt you.”
Justin’s past behavior has been under scrutiny given months-long rumors of tension with Lively on the set of “It Ends With Us.” The feud was confirmed last December when she filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department against him.
The “Gossip Girl” accused her former co-star at the time of sexual harassment, alleging he made her uncomfortable on multiple occasions by inappropriately talking about his past porn addiction and walking in on her while breast-feeding without permission.
She also accused Justin and his publicity team of spearheading a smear campaign against her, releasing text messages in which a crisis manager he hired reassured the actor’s rep that they can “bury anyone.”
Justin’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, vehemently denied the allegations and claimed Lively’s bad publicity “was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions.”
Lively still went on to sue Justin in New York federal court for alleged sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and lost wages.
The “Jane the Virgin” alum then filed a $250 million libel lawsuit against the New York Times for their coverage of the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” star’s allegations.
Justin then also took legal action against Lively herself, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist for a whopping $400 million.
He alleged in that suit that he had been defamed and extorted by Lively and her team, and providing numerous examples as to how the actress allegedly tried to assert control over their popular film.
Justin even dragged Lively’s good pal Taylor Swift into the filing, claiming the “Age of Adeline” star used the global pop star to pressure him into accepting her suggestions for script re-writes.
He has since also released raw footage of a scene he and Lively filmed together, in which the actors bantered back and forth, talked about their spouses and Lively even joked about the size of Justin’s nose.
The “A Simple Favor” star’s team slammed the release of the footage and said the video only backed up their client’s sexual harassment claims.
“Every moment of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni with no discussion or consent in advance, and no intimacy coordinator present,” Lively’s attorneys argued.
Shortly after, the lawyers requested a gag order to silence Justin’s attorney due to “improper conduct.” The judge on this case has not yet made a decision on that request.
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