A detailed analysis on how the LA Times hit piece was a desperate and failed attempt at assassinating Justin Baldoni’s character.

In September 2021, Flores sued Baldoni for copyright infringement in federal court. Seven months later, he voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit, telling his family that his legal team advised him that pursuing the case against a high-profile defendant with significant resources would be difficult.

Asked why he decided to represent Baldoni after previously representing Flores in a case against him, Freedman said in a statement, “Over the years, I have learned what great people Justin and Wayfarer are. The [Flores] case was resolved without any determination of liability on Justin’s or Wayfarer or any other defendant’s part. Since then, it has been further confirmed to me that Justin and Wayfarer are exceedingly honorable and highly ethical.”

This was a tasteless attempt to insinuate JB knowingly plagiarized a script from a dying man, who has since passed. Although they mention the case was dismissed, they are attempting to frame that Travis was intimidated to drop the case because of JB's status and financial resources. They quoted a statement Bryan Freedman made to EW, but conveniently left out "I learned that they did absolutely nothing wrong and that there was no liability on their part whatsoever", which makes it clear that JB and Wayfarer were found innocent of any wrongdoing.

They also brought up another lawsuit by Shane Norman that was dismissed with prejudice to suggest racial discrimination within the company, another attempt to throw a bunch of negative stories against the wall to see what sticks at making JB and Wayfarer look bad/phony.

Baldoni had already demonstrated his love of grand gestures, particularly when it came to romance. Years earlier, he proposed to his wife, Swedish actress Emily Baldoni (née Foxler), with an elaborate, highly produced 27-minute video featuring hidden cameras, choreographed flash mobs and a montage of their relationship — an over-the-top spectacle that quickly went viral.

Inspired by his faith, Baldoni had long tried to help others through such efforts as the Skid Row Carnival of Love, an annual event he founded in 2015 to help L.A.’s unhoused community. But to some observers his public gestures — such as filming himself giving clothing to a homeless man or asking employees to sign their emails with the phrase “so much love” — felt performative, aimed at self-branding as much as bringing about genuine change. “It was constant positivity all the time — I would say toxic positivity,” said one former Wayfarer staffer. “I’m always a little dubious of people who advertise themselves as disruptors of the status quo or quote-unquote ‘good people.’ It felt phony.”

They failed miserably at trying to frame his kindness and his brand as just a facade. The proposal video and Skid Row festival are used to insinuate his grand gestures are performative and disingenuous. His proposal may be too over the top for some, but his wife seemed to like as she accepted the proposal, married him, and started a family with him. He talked about his reasoning behind the proposal in a recent interview with Kelly and Mark. The Skid Row Carnival of Love is a day about spreading joy and love and acknowledging that homeless people are humans, offering them clothes, food, healthcare services, spa serrvices, and career assistance. This is the epitome of what it means to “practice what you preach”. Please watch this video about the carnival. And, too much positivity? This is really the best they could come up with. The audacity of him to foster love and positivity in the workplace! Just so toxic! 

“Justin has a lot of power and a lot of money, and he is not afraid to use them to get his way. We need allies, but we need allies whose personal and business dealings align with who they say they are.”

JB says he’s an imperfect person who is a constant work in progress. He says that he is always willing to self-reflect, to learn and grow, to take accountability for where he falls short, and try to do better and be better. The goal of his films, motivational speeches, books and podcast is to provoke meaningful discussion on important topics. He shares his own personal growth journey with the intention of resonating with people who may feel the way he feels or has felt in certain situations and may not have the tools to navigate it.  He is a spiritual person and his faith inspires his mission to create content that has meaningful impact and inspires people to live better, more fulfilling lives. All the projects he’s attached to reflect this. He actively aims to raise awareness about important causes and charities he feels passionate about. He lives by the mantra "Where there is love, nothing is too much trouble and there is always time” in both his career and personal life. Check out this video of a bulletin board made about JBshowing how his values are consistent and align with the content he puts out.

Despite its emphasis on equality, some Bahai principles remain culturally conservative in ways that clash with Hollywood’s more liberal and permissive norms. Women cannot serve on the religion’s highest governing body, the Universal House of Justice, though they can hold leadership roles in all other Bahai institutions. Same-sex marriage is not recognized, as Bahai teachings define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

This is an attempt to cast doubt that the Bahai faith is sexist and homophobic and further insinuate that JB, who is a devout member of that faith, is a fraud for building his brand on advocating for social equality. You can easily pick apart and scrutinize any religion. Back in 2016, Justin did an interview with Zach Anner, a comedian with cerebral palsy, explaining what it means to be Bahai and how he practices his faith.

Multiple employees also expressed discomfort with the increasing prominence of the Bahai faith in Wayfarer’s office culture. “There was an evangelizing aspect to the way Justin spoke about the faith that, in my opinion, felt professionally inappropriate,” said one former employee.

Rooted in his spiritual beliefs, Baldoni saw Wayfarer as a vehicle for inspirational storytelling, but some employees felt its relentless emphasis on uplift sometimes veered into discomfiting territory.

They are trying to attack him for his spiritual beliefs and make it seem like Wayfarer is some sort of religious cult. All faiths serve as the foundation of a person's core values and morals, guiding them to live with love, compassion, integrity, kindness, etc. The belief that work should be a service to humanity is a core principle among many religions, not just Bahai. Justin and Steve's faith inspired the mission of the company that they co-founded to create inspirational content for the betterment of humanity. No one was being forced to join their faith or discriminated against for having a different belief system. To say this is inappropriate and unprofessional is a reach. If you don't like the mission of the company and are uncomfortable with the content they create, you don't have to work there.

Two former staffers, in particular, spoke of their unease with Baldoni’s repeated focus on stories of terminal illness, which included a 2015 documentary he directed about “The Simpsons” writer Sam Simon that aired on Fusion just a week after Simon’s death from cancer. “‘The message was always, ‘These people are dying and they still have a positive outlook, so everyone has a reason to be positive,’” one former Wayfarer staffer said. “But, you know, you’re also making money off these people, so it feels at least slightly exploitative.” Reviewers have raised similar concerns. “While it is a spectacle for a good cause, it is still a spectacle,” Variety wrote of “My Last Days,” “and one that sometimes is guilty of reveling in its own self-satisfaction.”

Sharing the stories of people living with terminal illnesses was to inspire people to make the most of their time and live more meaningful lives. As Zach Sobiech said, "You don't have to find out you're dying to start living". The people on My Last Days willingly agreed to be a part of the series and most of them formed a very close bond with JB, becoming more like family. They were the one’s dying and did not feel exploited by him. In 2015, Justin gave a presentation at the Life is Beautiful Festival talking about My Last Days and the reasoning why he creates the content he does, highlighting Claire Wineland's story and inviting her to come on stage. Claire Wineland was an advocate for children and families affected by cystic fibrosis, writing a book and giving her first TED talk as just a young teen. She started the Claire's Place Foundation at the age of 13, a foundation Justin actively supports.. She made a YouTube channelsharing her own journey. She became so close with JB that he received a call just days before her passing for him to say his goodbyes as told in his instagram post.  Zach Sobiech became a viral sensation for his song Clouds and many media outlets actually reached out to him to tell his story, but he chose to do so on Justin’s series. They became very close and Zach's family and friends were heavily involved in the making of the movie Clouds, even allowing JB to use his personal clothes and belongings in the film. The series and the movie drew attention to the Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund and the cast even attended the Clouds Choir for a Cause event to raise awareness for children battling cancer. Marinda Davis was a choreographer, who was introduced to Julianne Hough on My Last Days because of Justin and able to tell her story through dance on DWTS. She is exceptionally close with him and refers to him as her big brother. She has achieved great success as a choreographer since the series. Justin still remains close with Shane Burcaw, who suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and was featured on the first season of My Last Days. On an episode of the Man Enough Podcast, he even attributes JB as the reason he met his wife as she reached out to him after seeing his episode. He even jokes that him and JB fell so madly in love with each other because of their shared ability to be emotionally vulnerable. Chronic and terminal illnesses can be very expensive and the projects they deem as exploitative actually help raise awareness and funds for many charities and fundraisers.

” I am afraid that I will be seen as an imposter and everyone will find out that I’ve just been faking it this entire time and really have no idea what I’m doing or how I even got here.”

Just another tactic from the BL playbook to take advantage of his openness, vulnerability, and introspection and quote his own words to plant seeds of doubt. He's admitting that he questions his self-worth and has insecurities and feelings of not being enough. It's called imposter syndrome and most people suffer from it or some version of it at least at some point in their life.