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A voice note that actor Justin Baldoni sent to his It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively is just the latest twist in the ongoing high-profile legal battle. Lively has accused Baldoni of harassment during the filming of It Ends With Us and a retaliatory smear campaign, while Baldoni has countersued for $400 million, alleging defamation and extortion.
The lawsuit between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni has been largely playing out in the media, with a seemingly new detail being reported on daily. Just last week, for example, Baldoni’s legal team published a 10-minute video from the set of the film that they believe exonerated their client (Lively’s counsel disagreed).
Meanwhile, move fans suspect Baldoni’s team of trying to plant a story about Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds being mean to disgraced actor TJ Miller, only for it to fail specularly. Now, a new voice note that Baldoni sent to Lively has made its way to the media and it could prove to be a damaging blow for Baldoni as the message largely consists of him apologizing for his behavior.
The roughly six-minute-long voice not, sent around “two in the morning” on an undetermined date, was originally obtained by The Daily Mail. The conversation seems to be about rewrites that were done to the film’s now infamous rooftop scene by Lively — reportedly encouraged by Reynolds and best friend Taylor Swift — which were met with a tepid response from Baldoni.
“I am far from perfect. I am a flawed man, as my wife will attest. And I’m going to f— up. I’m going to say the wrong thing. I’m going to put my foot in my mouth. I’m going to piss you off, probably, but I will always apologize and find my way back to center. That is one thing I can assure you of. I’m sorry I made you feel that way,” Baldoni says in the video.
“I think you and I have been trying to build a relationship, which I think we’ve done successfully. I mean here we are — talking like this — me into my phone at two in the morning, but largely via text and voice note. And I will be honest with you, that is not my biggest strength. I love being with people and being in somebody’s, in somebody’s space and being face to face and I feel like that’s where I excel and definitely fallen short at times in our text and voice note exchanges so much to communicate and there’s so much happening and all that to say, I’m just really looking forward to spending time together and I think that’s going to really go a long way for our chemistry, which I believe is there — has been there from the start.”
#JustinBaldoni revealed a nearly 7-minute apology he sent #BlakeLively while they were working on the #ItEndsWithUs script.
Justin’s voice note was clearly recorded shortly after their now-infamous meeting to discuss the film’s rooftop scene.
Full story: https://t.co/Hqn1D9bryR pic.twitter.com/cLVymoxQN9
— TMZ (@TMZ) January 27, 2025
Opinions on whether or not Baldoni’s voice note make him seem better or worse are seemingly split.
Justin Baldoni sent Blake Lively a voice note at 2:00 AM. There is no world where your creepy ass, harassing coworker should be doing that but bird brain simps are going to find a way to romanticize and infantilize him for it
— Riley Freeman (@TrillaryBlinton) January 28, 2025
I know the Baldoni Blake Lively thing is just stupid gossip, but a) there is a real sexual harassment allegation & b) it’s fascinating to watch ppl react to this one. Like if you listen to that voice note & still believe Blake Lively it’s like you’re telling me the sky is yellow
— KFC (@KFCBarstool) January 28, 2025
In addition to suing Lively, Baldoni has also listed Reynolds and the couple’s publicist Leslie Sloane as a defendants in the suit, with the trial is expected to begin as soon as March 2026.
According to Lively’s lawsuit, Baldoni behaved inappropriately during film and allegedly engaged in unwanted physical advances and unprofessional conduct, such as comments about her weight. In a statement made following the publication of the It Ends With Us set video, Lively’s argued the footage supports her claims.
“Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt will get ahead of the damaging evidence against him, but the video itself is damning. Every frame of the released footage corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Lively described in Paragraph 48 of her Complaint,” Lively’s lawyers said in a statement to the New York Post.
It Ends with Us, based on the best-selling novel of the same name written by Colleen Hoover, was produced for just $25 million and grossed $351 million at the global box office.