Justin Baldoni is making public appearances amid Blake Lively’s courtroom drama

Justin Baldoni was spotted in Los Angeles just days before the holiday season, marking his first public appearance since Blake Lively‘s lawsuit made headlines.

The actor and director, accompanied by his wife, were photographed dropping off their children at a relative’s house before heading to an office meeting. The normally upbeat Baldoni looked somber and serious during the walk – perhaps a reflection of the weighty charges he now faces.

How Explosion previously reported, Blake Lively’s lawsuit accuses Justin Baldoni of creating a “hostile work environment” during the filming of It Ends With Us.

Justin Baldoni kept it casual during his recent outing in Los Angeles, wearing a pair of sporty denim jeans paired with a simple light green and brown T-shirt as he hopped into a white SUV.

See photos obtained by TMZ here.

Aiming comes in the middle Blake Lively’s allegations that Baldoni often spoke on set about his alleged past struggles with pornography addiction and sexual contact. Lively also claims that Baldoni worked with PR groups in a coordinated effort to damage her professional reputation.

Baldoni’s legal team, on the other hand, pushed back, painting a different picture of the manufacturing environment. They accused Lively of being a source of trouble, claiming that she was often absent from the set and unwilling to participate in the promotion of the film.

Last week it was reported that Blake Lively filed a lawsuit against her This Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment during the film’s production and claiming he later mounted a “smear campaign” against her.

According to legal documents filed with the California Department of Civil Rights, which act as a precursor to a formal lawsuit, the charges mark the culmination of months of speculation surrounding tensions between Baldoni, the film’s director, and other cast members.

The 37-year-old actress stars as Lily Bloom in the 2016 adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel. The story tells of a flower shop owner who has a violent relationship with her partner Ryle Kincaid, played by Baldoni.

Court documents accuse Baldoni and his associates of orchestrating a targeted campaign to smear Lively’s reputation in the media. Lively claims the alleged efforts caused her “severe emotional distress.”

According to the complaint, Blake Lively made several specific demands to continue working on the film.

In addition, she asked for an end to discussions about Baldoni and producer Steve Heath’s past struggles with pornography addiction, as well as any talk related to personal sexual experiences.

The complaint also emphasized the need for Baldoni to stop making inappropriate references to his own genitalia in conversations with her and her team, and to stop making statements about alleged relationships with Lively’s late father.

Additionally, the statement alleges that Justin Baldoni “inserted improvised gratuitous sexual content and/or scenes of nudity (including for underage characters) into the film in highly disturbing ways” without Blake Lively’s prior knowledge or consent.

Blake Lively’s 80-page court filing includes excerpts from thousands of text messages and emails exchanged between Justin Baldoni, public relations executive Jennifer Abel and crisis management expert Melissa Nathan.

Messages included in Blake Lively’s court filings allegedly show how Baldoni, Abel and Nathan devised a strategy to manage social media speculation and control the public narrative surrounding the situation.

The exchanges suggest they focused on protecting Baldoni’s image, with Abel reportedly telling Nathan: “He wants to feel like (Lively) can be buried.”

Speculation about a rift between Justin Baldoni and the rest of the cast of It Ends With Us first surfaced during the film’s promotional tour following its August 9 release.

Fans were quick to notice Baldoni’s absence from joint press events, the conspicuous absence of group photos with Blake Lively and Baldoni at premieres, and the fact that several cast members, including Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds, stopped signing up Baldoni on Instagram.