Justin Baldoni previously addressed an ‘Unhealthy Relationship’ With Porn

Years before his past problems with porn were named in a lawsuit over his alleged behavior on the set of It Ends With Usa director Justin Baldoni previously shared how he developed an “unhealthy” relationship with porn after being introduced to it at a young age.

“I was introduced to porn when I was ten years old. Way before I ever, you know, could get an erection or even know how I felt about anything,” Baldoni, now 37, shared on a July 2021 episode of Sarah Grynberg‘s “A Life of Greatness” a podcast. “We’ve sexualized this thing, so of course it becomes fascinating and interesting and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, boobs.’ And then, you know, hormones start raging. “

Baldoni added at the time that he “seeked refuge (in porn) when I felt alone, or when I felt abandoned, or when I felt hurt or something so, it was because of a dopamine rush – I didn’t know that at the time. At a young age, I trained my brain to deal with pain with the dopamine hit.”

On the podcast, he shared that although he had never drank alcohol or done drugs, he could get it wrong and use something in an “unhealthy” way.

“And I found myself, during my life, going back to looking at images and videos of naked women when I felt necessarily bad about myself,” she told Grynberg. “And I knew it was a problem for me when I would tell myself I don’t want to do that.”

Baldoni is also the author of a book called Man Enough: Undefining My Masculinitywhere he wrote extensively about his “relationship” to the porn industry and how it informs young men’s understanding of consent.

“I believe that the pornography especially that young boys watch is very violent and because no one ever sits us down and teaches us about consent, we learn it through porn,” he said in 2021. “So what do you have? You have a whole generation of guys who think that when a girl says ‘no,’ or ‘stop,’ or ‘that hurts,’ that means it’s good.”

Baldoni’s previous comments about porn are still relevant after Blake Lively filed sexual harassment lawsuit against her It Ends With Us costar on Friday, December 20, claiming that Baldoni’s behavior towards her on set caused the actress “severe emotional distress”.

The lawsuit also claims that before filming resumed in January 2024, a meeting was held to address Lively’s claims of a “hostile work environment” on set, which was attended by a number of people as well as her husband, Ryan Reynolds.

According to the lawsuit, her demands included “no more showing Blake videos or nude images of women, no more talking about Baldoni’s alleged ‘pornography addiction’, no more discussing sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mention of the cast. and the crew’s genitalia, no more inquiries about Blake’s weight, and no further mention of Blake’s dead father.”

Bryan FreedmanBaldoni’s lawyer, addressed Lively’s accusations in a statement to Us Weeklywhich he called “absolutely false, outrageous and deliberately salacious.”

Freedman claimed to Us that Lively filed the lawsuit to “repair her negative reputation” and “remake a narrative” regarding the production of the film, further alleging that the actress made “multiple demands and threats” during filming , including “threatening not to show up to set, threatening not to promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met.”

Us has reached out to Lively’s rep for comment.

“I hope my legal action will help pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak out about wrongdoing and help protect others who may be targeted,” Lively said in a statement. i The New York Times in December, where he also denied spreading negative information about Baldoni.