Justin Baldoni’s comments about his past ‘unhealthy’ relationship with porn have resurfaced amid the controversy surrounding his new movie It Ends With Us.
The actor, 40, and his co-star Blake Lively have faced intense scrutiny online amid rumours of an ongoing ‘feud’ between them, with the pair doing no press for their new movie together.
Blake, 36, was also hit by claims that she insensitively promoted the film, based off Colleen Hoover’s novel about an abusive relationship, while director Justin was praised for his powerful speech about domestic violence.
Now, a 2021 interview has resurfaced of Justin discussing the issues with traditional masculinity and opening up about his own ‘unhealthy’ relationship with porn as a teenager.
Proving himself to be a longtime activist, Justin spoke about the problem with his introduction to pornography when he was 10 years old on Aussie mindset coach Sarah Grynberg’s A Life of Greatness podcast.
During the chat, Justin candidly admitted he ‘sought refuge’ in porn when he was ‘sad or lonely’ and told how he, like many other men, had an ‘unhealthy’ relationship with it.
‘I was introduced to porn when I was ten years old. Yeah. Long before I ever, you know, could have an erection or even knew how I felt about anything,’ he shared.
‘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.
Justin Baldoni’s comments about his past ‘unhealthy’ relationship with porn have resurfaced amid the controversy surrounding his new movie It Ends With Us
‘But what ends up happening to a lot of young boys, and by the way – the stats and the numbers of, of men who use porn and who don’t even know that they have an issue with it, are so high – is that when you’re in those formative years and you’re experiencing pain or sadness or loss or loneliness, it becomes something that you use.
‘I sought refuge in it when I felt alone, or when I felt abandoned, or when I felt hurt or something like that, because it was a dopamine rush – I didn’t know that then. At an early age, I trained my brain to deal with pain with the dopamine hit.’
Justin went on to explain that he doesn’t drink alcohol or do drugs, but did find himself viewing pornographic content in an ‘unhealthy’ way over the years.
‘I can be spiritual and never have a drink of alcohol, which I never have. Or smoke a joint, which I never have, e high or do a drug which I never have, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not using something in an unhealthy way,’ he went on.
‘And I found myself, over the course of my life, going back to looking at images and videos of naked women when I was feeling necessarily bad about myself.
‘And I knew that I that it was an issue for me when I would tell myself that I don’t I don’t want to do that.’
Promoting his book Man Enough: Undefining My Masculinity, Justin went on to criticise how violent porn can inform young boys’ views of consent as he discussed the importance of sex education.
‘Now, I’m not saying the entire porn industry is bad, and I say this in the book, I’m not calling out the porn industry, I’m calling out my relation to it,’ he continued.
‘But I do believe that especially the porn that young boys are watching is very violent and because we never no one ever sits us down and teaches us about consent, we learn it through porn.
‘So what do you have? You have an entire generation of boys who think that when a girl says no or stop or that hurts, that that means that’s good.’
Proving himself to be a longtime activist, Justin (pictured with Blake Lively in It Ends With Us) spoke about the problem with his introduction to pornography when he was 10 years old
Justin said he was thankful that he never came across such content when he was younger but admitted he finds studies on pornography ‘troubling’.
The wide-ranging interview has resurfaced after he was praised by fans for his remarks about domestic violence at a screening of It Ends With Us, after Blake came under fire for how she promoted the film.
Justin – who directed the film and served as one of its producers as well as starring in it – was praised online after he tackled the movie’s serious themes head-on with fans.
While visiting a Los Angeles movie theater at The Grove, the actor reminded viewers to be mindful of how the story in It Ends With Us may affect others.
‘This film is about love, it’s about hope, it’s about romance. But it’s also about something very serious – intimate partner violence,’ he told the crowds.
‘So I just want to say it is prevalent, it is everywhere. There’s a good chance that a few people in this room have been touched by it.
‘If you see somebody at the end of this film sitting alone and shaking or emotional, maybe consider going up to them and asking them if you can support them in some way.’
Justin added that even those who didn’t relate to what the characters went through should still take time to ‘reflect’ on its themes.
‘I ask anybody who watches this film to maybe be reflective at the end and [ask yourself], “What’s the cycle that you can break in your life?”‘ he concluded.
A clip of his speech was uploaded to TikTok, and it quickly went viral, gaining more than 961,000 views in mere hours, with many flocking to the comments to praise Justin for his words.
Blake, who stars as lead character Lily Bloom alongside Justin’s Ryle Kincaid, was previously scrutinized for the way she answered an interview question about the movie’s serious themes.
When a reporter asked the Gossip Girl star how people who related to what her character went through could talk to her, her sarcastic response left people outraged.
Rather than encouraging domestic violence victims to seek help from professionals or sharing resources available to them, she laughed at the concept of making herself available to them.
Justin was recently praised for his speech about domestic violence after Blake Lively was hit by claims she insensitively promoted the film about an abusive relationship with ‘tone deaf’ remarks
‘For people who see this movie and relate to the topics of this movie on a deeply personal level, they’re really going to want to talk to you,’ the interviewer said.
‘This movie is going to affect people and they’re going to want to tell you about their life.
‘So if someone understands the themes of this movie and comes across you in public and they want to really talk to you, what’s the best way for them to be able to talk to you about this? How would you recommend they go about it?’
Blake seemed unamused by the idea of people approaching her and wanting to discuss the harrowing themes that play out in the film.
She sarcastically replied: ‘Ask for my address or my phone number.’
‘Or I could just share my location with you and then we could…,’ she trailed off before laughing in remarks which were slammed as ‘tone deaf’.
Blake was also criticised after she hosted an interview with her It Ends With Us co-stars Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer and author Colleen, but failed to discuss the topic.
The four women chatted about everything from their dream jobs to their zodiac signs, but there was no mention of domestic violence during their talk.
Several hours later, Blake took to Instagram to share information about domestic violence, as well as some resources for her followers.
She shared a series of links, which included a phone hotline for victims of domestic violence, as well as statistics and other information.
‘Everyone deserves relationships free of domestic violence,’ she wrote.
Amid the storm of divisive publicity, Blake and Justin were also hit by claims of an ongoing feud between them, after they failed to do any press for the film together
Amid the storm of divisive publicity, Blake and Justin were also hit by claims of an ongoing feud between them, after they failed to do any press for the film together.
A source told DailyMail.com that Blake and Justin clashed over his ‘dismissive’ attitude to her ‘input’ while they were filming scenes that involved abuse.
The insider claimed that Justin only focused on ‘what he believed was the abusive male viewpoint’ and had a very ‘chauvinistic’ approach to the topic.
Days later, TMZ reported that Blake felt ‘fat-shamed’ by Justin on set while they were preparing for a scene that saw him lift her off the ground.
Insiders told the website that Justin suffers from back problems and sought assistance from a trainer prior to the lifting scene.
He allegedly asked the trainer how much Blake weighed and asked for help preparing his back to avoid incurring an injury.
