Legal Bombshell: Blake Lively’s Brother-In-Law Extends Apology To Justin Baldoni

In a shocking turn of events, Blake Lively’s brother-in-law, Bart Johnson, has publicly apologized to Justin Baldoni amid their ongoing $400 million legal feud.

The controversy stems from Lively’s lawsuit against her "It Ends With Us" co-star, accusing him of sexual harassment, a case that has sparked heated debate both in Hollywood and online.

On Tuesday, Bart Johnson, who is best known for his role as Coach Bolton in "High School Musical" and husband to Blake Lively’s sister, Robyn Lively, took to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, to express remorse.

Johnson decided it was time to address his past social media posts in which he criticized Justin Baldoni’s character and appearance.

"Anytime I’ve said anything unkind about someone, I’ve regretted it," the actor began. "Fortunately, that’s almost never, and definitely not when I’m at my best. Regardless if it’s true or not, if it’s my opinion, even if I’m trying to speak truth or stand up for someone, it’s never good."

He acknowledged that while he may have believed his opinions to be truthful or justified, his approach did not align with his personal values. "Even in times where it might 'feel' justified and doing the right thing, it makes no difference. There’s a better way," he admitted. "It’s below the standard I have for myself, and I regret it."

Later in his apology, Johnson acknowledged that his words may have hurt or let down people, vowing to do better moving forward.

“If you follow me, you know you’ll be hard-pressed to find more than one time I’ve criticized anyone on social [media],” he explained. “It’s not my jam… We all have flaws, and I’m definitely a work in progress, doing my best to grow and be better.”

Baldoni has yet to respond to Johnson’s apology.

Johnson’s apology follows a now-deleted post in which he accused Baldoni of being a fraud, criticizing the actor for allegedly crafting a false public persona.

"None of it’s genuine. It’s all theater. And everyone fell for it. For years,'" he said, questioning the sincerity of his activism.

It also follows a comment that the "HSM" actor left on a post from The New York Times, where he declared:

"Her complaints were filed during the filming. On record. Long before the public conflict. The cast unfollowed him [Baldoni] for a reason. His PR team was stellar. Gross and disgusting but highly effective. Read the article, their text message exchanges and his PR campaign strategy to bury her by any means necessary. No one is with out [sic] faults. But the public got played.”

He added that “of course mistakes were made” on Lively’s part, but “Just IMAGINE being a stay at home mom raising 4 kids, married to the busiest man in Hollywood and at the same time being a girl boss running multiple companies while writing, producing, running non-profits and working 16+ hour days from home so you can be with your kids."

The ongoing drama surrounding "It Ends With Us" has taken multiple twists and turns, with the most recent being released text messages where Lively reportedly compared herself to Daenerys Targaryen (Khaleesi) from "Game of Thrones" while defending her creative vision for the film, referring to her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and best friend, Taylor Swift, as her “dragons.”

At the center of the dispute is a pivotal rooftop scene in the romantic drama, which Lively reworked to better fit her vision. While Reynolds and Swift were said to have praised her changes, Baldoni’s lukewarm reaction allegedly led to friction between the co-stars.

In addition to that text message exchange, a 2 AM voice message from Baldoni to Lively was released, leaving many to speculate what the real meaning behind it was.s

A trial date has been officially scheduled for March 9, 2026, as announced by Judge Lewis J. Liman on Tuesday.

In response to escalating tensions between the two actors, both in court and in the public eye, the judge also moved up an initial conference from mid-February to next week.