Jane the Virgin alum Brett Dier is weighing in on former costar Justin Baldoni’s ongoing legal drama with Blake Lively.
“It’s a really intense situation,” Dier, 35, told Fan Mail in an interview published on Thursday, May 22, confessing, “I probably shouldn’t say much, but I’ll say this: I always loved Justin.”
Dier shared that Baldoni, 41, has “always been an amazing friend to me.” He noted, “I’m just hoping everything resolves in time.”
Baldoni and Dier have been friends since they costarred on The CW’s Jane the Virgin from 2014 to 2019. Dier played Gina Rodriguez’s first husband, Michael Cordero, while Baldoni played her character Jane Villanueva’s other romantic love interest, Rafael Solano.
Dier confirmed on Thursday that even though the show ended six years ago, he stays connected with a “good amount” of his former castmates from the series, which he recalled being a “wild ride.”
Although Dier didn’t identify Baldoni — or anyone specific from the cast — as someone he is close with, he previously supported the actor when his movie It Ends With Us hit theaters.
Dier and Yael Grobglas, who played Baldoni’s first wife on Jane the Virgin, went to the theaters together in August 2024 to see the film. “Our genius friend @justinbaldoni made a phenomenal film,” Grobglas, 40, wrote via Instagram at the time. “I cried an embarrassing amount and tried to hide it but probably failed.”
She shared a photo with Dier inside the theater after the showing, adding, “I am so proud of you, and I love you friend !!!!”
While Baldoni — who was the director and one of the movie’s stars — received praise from his former castmates, the project has since been a source of contention. Baldoni has been embroiled in a messy legal battle with his It Ends With Us costar Lively, 37, since December 2024 when she filed a sexual harassment complaint against him.
Baldoni has denied all accusations made against him in Lively’s lawsuit, which included accusations of him creating a hostile work environment and causing her “severe emotional distress” while making the film.
Baldoni later filed his own $400 million lawsuit against the Gossip Girl actress, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and Lively’s publicist Leslie Sloane. He accused the trio of trying to “destroy” him, his team and their respective companies by “disseminating grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new and doctored information to the media.”
Lively and Reynolds, 48, have denied the allegations and filed to dismiss the motion completely.
“The entirety of Mr. Baldoni’s case appears to be based on Mr. Reynolds allegedly privately calling Mr. Baldoni a ‘predator,’ but here is the problem, that is not defamation unless they can show that Mr. Reynolds did not believe that statement to be true,” Reynolds’ attorneys Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson said in a statement shared with Us Weekly in March. “The complaint doesn’t allege that, and just the opposite, the allegations in the complaint suggest that Mr. Reynolds genuinely believes Mr. Baldoni is a predator.”
The statement continued, “Mr. Reynolds’ wife has accused Mr. Baldoni — privately and in multiple complaints — of sexual harassment and retaliation, and as pointed out by Mr. Reynolds’ motion, Mr. Baldoni has also openly spoken about his past of mistreating women and pushing the boundaries of consent. Mr. Reynolds has a First Amendment right to express his opinion of Mr. Baldoni, which should be comforting to a group of people who have repeatedly called Ms. Lively and Mr. Reynolds ‘bullies’ and other names over the past year.”
Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman told Us in a statement at the time that Reynolds was allegedly actively involved in the situation “far beyond just being a ‘supportive spouse.’”
Freedman claimed, “Mr. Reynolds was a key player in the scheme, defaming Justin around Hollywood, strong-arming WME into dropping Justin as a client, and trying to destroy Justin’s career however possible. His fingerprints have been all over this smear campaign against Justin and the Wayfarer team since day one.”
Lively and Baldoni’s trial is scheduled for March 9, 2026.
