Justin Baldoni has been using feminism to boost his brand. This 2015 letter proves it.

"Know that anything a man can do you can do (and probably better). There are things that you can accomplish in this life that a man could never even dream of... because they were destined to be accomplished by you." 

These are the words Justin Baldoni wrote to his newborn baby girl in 2015. The open letter he shared on Facebook went on to encourage women to break the glass ceiling and recognise their worth, in hopes that his own daughter Maiya would one day hear the same encouragement. 

"Know that you are beautiful just as you are...and you my dear, are more than enough. You are perfection," Baldoni wrote. 

Listen to the Mamamia Out Loud hosts dissect the lawsuit here. Post continues after podcast.

In fact, Baldoni has even written articles about what it means to be a 'feminist dad' and how it has transformed the way he thinks about his entire life. From incorporating more inclusive language and messaging in the way he talks to both his children to empowering them to express their individuality despite the pervasive gender roles being pushed on them by the outside world, Baldoni wrote extensively and passionately about "raising both his son and his daughter to be feminists, just like their parents."

In 2017, he delivered a TED Talk where he invited the audience to redefine masculinity, or what society has told them it means to be a man. During his TED Talk, 'Why I'm Done Trying to Be Man Enough,' Baldoni discussed the toxic pressures of masculinity and the importance of men embracing vulnerability, showing their emotions, and supporting women in their quests for equality. 

"Your strength, your bravery, your toughness: Are you brave enough to be vulnerable? Are you strong enough to be sensitive? Are you confident enough to listen to the women in your life?" he asked the audience. 

Justin Baldoni has written several articles about feminism. Image: Getty.

Now, Baldoni is at the centre of a very public sexual harassment lawsuit. 

In the recent lawsuit, filed by actress Blake Lively, Baldoni has been accused of sexually harassing Lively on the set of their movie It Ends With Us, as well as hiring a PR crisis management firm in an attempt to ruin Lively's reputation. 

The lawsuit also highlights disturbing text messages between Baldoni and his team, in which they allegedly discuss "burying" Blake Lively. In one particularly troubling exchange, Baldoni and his associates seem to strategise on how to undermine Lively's public image. He explicitly references hate campaigns waged against other successful women, such as Hailey Bieber and Taylor Swift as examples of what he'd like to do to Lively.

"This is what we would need," he wrote, along with a screenshot of an X post about Hailey Bieber's "history of bullying women". 

For a man who has always proclaimed himself to be a feminist ally and made so much of his public presence around his activism in this space, these new findings are concerning.

But the recent lawsuit allegations weren't the only clues. 

Recently, amid the sexual harassment allegations, Baldoni's long-time collaborator and podcast co-host Liz Plank seemingly expressed her thoughts surrounding the situation with Baldoni and drew a pretty clear line in the sand. Posting to her Instagram, Plank acknowledged the "plot twists" she experienced this year, and announced that she would be moving onto new creative projects that are "truly trustworthy" since she doesn't want to focus on "people she can't control." 

Justin Baldoni is being sued by Blake Lively for sexual harassment on set. Image: Getty.

Not to mention, the majority of the main cast of It Ends With Us have also seemingly shown their support for Lively, unfollowing Baldoni on Instagram and showing up to several premieres for the film alongside Lively. 

So, what does all of this mean? As the details from the lawsuit continue to emerge, we will hopefully gain more clarity on what really happened on that movie set. However, for a man who has made an entire career out of being an advocate for women's issues and challenging the way society sees and treats women, it all just feels very jarring.

It seems clear now that Justin Baldoni has used feminism as a tool — a tool to position himself as a progressive and caring figure in an industry that values self-promotion above all. And while his words about equality and empowerment may be uplifting, they seemed to lose all meaning in the midst of this storm. Particularly coming from the mouth of a man who would use the social media pile on of other famous women as an example of how to take down his own co-star. 

Feature image: Getty.