31 Facts About Justin Baldoni

Justin Louis Baldoni was born on January 24,1984 and is an American actor and director.

Justin Baldoni is best known for playing Rafael Solano on the CW telenovela Jane the Virgin and for starring in and directing the romantic drama film It Ends with Us.

Justin Baldoni has directed Five Feet Apart and Clouds.

Justin Baldoni has published two books on exploring positive masculinity and overcoming societal expectations of being a man.

Baldoni directed and starred opposite Blake Lively in It Ends with Us, a box-office success, but drew controversy, resulting in a number of lawsuits, including Lively and Baldoni suing each other for defamation.

Justin Baldoni was born in Los Angeles, California, and was raised in Medford, Oregon, to parents Sharon and Sam Justin Baldoni.

Justin Baldoni's mother is Jewish, born to Ashkenazi Jewish parents Blanche Katz and Daniel Solomon from Cleveland, Ohio, with roots in Central and Eastern Europe.

Justin Baldoni is therefore considered Jewish according to Halakha, as Orthodox Judaism practices matrilineal descent.

Justin Baldoni was raised celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah in honour of his Jewish and Catholic grandparents.

Justin Baldoni played soccer and ran track in high school, and was a radio disc jockey at a local top 40 radio station.

Justin Baldoni attended college at California State University, Long Beach on a partial athletic scholarship, but later dropped out.

Justin Baldoni made his acting debut in the soap opera The Young and the Restless in 2004.

In 2008, Justin Baldoni wrote, produced, and directed his first music video that was selected and won him his first "Audience Choice Award" at Dawn Breakers International Film Festival.

In December 2018, Justin Baldoni spoke at the annual End Well Symposium about why he believes that thinking about our death can help us live better.

From 2014 to 2019, Justin Baldoni played Rafael Solano in the CW satirical telenovela Jane the Virgin starring opposite Gina Rodriguez.

Justin Baldoni directed and produced CBS Films' Five Feet Apart, starring Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson, and based on an original script by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis.

In 2024 Justin Baldoni directed, produced, and starred in the romantic drama It Ends with Us, based on Colleen Hoover's novel of the same name.

Pulitzer Prize award-winning journalists Megan Twohey and Mike McIntire from The New York Times investigated the allegations and reported that Baldoni had hired a PR crisis firm in order to "bury her" through a coordinated smear campaign against her across social media platforms such as TikTok, Reddit, and X Baldoni responded with a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the newspaper, saying that the article's authors had pulled quotes so far out of context as to be the opposite of the truth.

In July 2017, Variety announced that Justin Baldoni was developing a talk show through his media company Wayfarer Entertainment.

In 2021, Justin Baldoni released a book under the same premise.

Justin Baldoni began a podcast series under the same name with co-hosts Liz Plank and Jamey Heath.

Justin Baldoni co-founded a production company called Wayfarer Entertainment that produces television, films, and digital content.

The studio's most successful project to date is the 2024 romance drama It Ends with Us, that Justin Baldoni directs and stars in.

Justin Baldoni proposed to her in a 27-minute video which he released on his production company's YouTube channel where it went viral.

Justin Baldoni has previously written and spoken about his struggles with Body dysmorphic disorder.

Justin Baldoni is on the Board of Ambassadors of the Tahirih Justice Center, a nonprofit advocating for women, girls, and all immigrant survivors of gender-based violence.

Justin Baldoni directed and starred opposite Blake Lively in It Ends with Us, a box-office success.

Justin Baldoni, who had recently received the Voices of Solidarity Award, had it rescinded by its sponsor, Vital Voices.

On December 31,2024, Lively filed a lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, mirroring the California Civil Rights Department complaint.

On 16 January 2025, Justin Baldoni's attorney filed a $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist Leslie Sloan for civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy.

Justin Baldoni contends that Lively, along with Reynolds and Sloan, engaged in a coordinated effort to tarnish his reputation, derail his career, and obscure the film's original purpose of highlighting domestic violence awareness.