Justin Baldoni and his wife, Emily, joined the Dancing With the Stars audience on Oct. 13. Their daughter, Maiya, 11, and son, Maxwell, 8, accompanied them for the live broadcast.
Entertainment Weekly spotted the 42-year-old It Ends With Us actor-director and his family looking for their seats before the show.
The Baldonis attended as guests of cohost Julianne Hough, a longtime family friend, sources close to the production told Page Six.
The episode marked the competition’s first Super Bowl Night, featuring music associated with halftime performances. Monday Night Football broadcaster Joe Buck joined the judging panel.
The Cameras Caught the Family Applauding Maura Higgins
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Justin and Emily were shown clapping after Love Island UK star Maura Higgins and professional partner Mark Ballas performed the first competitive routine of the evening, Us Weekly reported. The pair danced a tango to Rihanna’s “Only Girl (In the World),” taking inspiration from her 2023 halftime show.
ABC built the evening around the remaining 11 couples and appearances by former NFL players and DWTS contestants, including Emmitt Smith, Donald Driver, DeMarcus Ware and Danny Amendola.
Hough’s Work With Baldoni Included a Choreographer’s Story
Before becoming a cohost, Hough appeared in Baldoni’s documentary series My Last Days, which profiles people living with terminal illnesses. Her episode concerned choreographer Marinda Davis and aired on The CW in May 2018, according to the network’s contemporary WCCB listing.
Davis described how the project came together in a 2020 interview with VoyageLA. She said Baldoni first contacted her in fall 2016 and filming began early the following year, while she was preparing to bring her contemporary dance production UNbreakable to New York.
Later in 2017, Hough made hiring Davis to choreograph a routine a condition of her return to DWTS as a guest judge, Davis recalled. Hough asked to portray her in a piece based on her experiences with illness and performed it during the show’s November finale.
Justin and Emily Spoke About Their Family’s Recovery in July
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In a joint Instagram video posted July 8, the couple explained why they had held back from speaking publicly during the legal dispute involving Blake Lively. Justin said they had repeatedly considered recording a message but felt the timing was wrong and wanted to let the legal process continue without adding more public commentary.
“We are healing,” he said, according to the full transcript published by TODAY. He described reassessing his priorities and relying on family, friends, community and faith.
Emily said gratitude for their supporters existed alongside what she described as pain, injustice and trauma. Neither named Lively or It Ends With Us in the video.
The couple also thanked people who had publicly defended them. Emily said they intended to discuss more in the future but were concentrating on spending time with their children.
The Settlement Was Followed by a Separate Legal-Fee Award
Lively sued Baldoni and others in December 2024, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation connected to It Ends With Us. Baldoni denied wrongdoing and subsequently brought a $400 million lawsuit against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and others.
A federal judge dismissed Baldoni’s lawsuit in June 2025. After further pretrial rulings narrowed Lively’s case, the parties settled the remaining dispute in May 2026, avoiding a scheduled trial, Reuters reported.
The agreement left Lively’s request for legal fees unresolved. On Aug. 26, Judge Lewis Liman awarded her approximately $407,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs, substantially less than the roughly $8 million she had requested.
According to Variety, Liman limited reimbursement to reasonable expenses associated with defending the defamation claim and found the number of hours submitted by her lawyers excessive.