Justin Baldoni Makes Rare Public Appearance on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Following Blake Lively Legal Battle

Justin Baldoni was in the Dancing With the Stars ballroom Tuesday night.

The It Ends With Us actor and director sat in the audience during the ABC dance competition show’s Super Bowl Night-themed episode, cheering on the season 35 cast with his wife, Emily Baldoni, and their two daughters.

The cameras panned to Baldoni and his family after Maura Higgins and pro Mark Ballas performed the first dance of the night.

While his appearance may seem random to some, Page Six reported that Baldoni and his family were there as “special guests of Julianne Hough, who is a longtime family friend.”

Hough, a co-host of DWTS, appeared in Baldoni’s 2012 docuseries My Last Days.

Baldoni’s appearance marks a rare public outing for the Jane the Virgin star following his nearly two-year legal battle with It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively, who accused him of sexual harassment on set and alleged a smear campaign against her. Baldoni denied the allegations. A judge dismissed Lively’s sexual harassment claims in April, and the parties settled their remaining claims in May ahead of trial.

Baldoni has largely kept a low profile since the dispute, though he addressed his public absence in a July Instagram video with his wife.

“We have not spoken publicly for the better part of the last two years,” he said. “There have been so many painful things that have been spoken into existence. We didn’t want to add to the noise, so we just wanted to let the justice system run its course.”

Tuesday’s episode ended with Guillermo Rodriguez of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and pro dancer Witney Carson being eliminated. The remaining celebrities in the competition include Tyler Cameron, Jackson Olson, Amber Glenn, Connor Wood, Julia Stiles, Tatyana Ali, Jenna Dewan, Harry Shum Jr., Ezra Frech and Higgins.