Blake Lively’s Private Voice Memo to Justin Baldoni Unsealed as Nasty Legal Battle Continues: ‘Talking to You As a Friend’

She wanted “A Simple Favor.”

via: Us Weekly

Newly unsealed court exhibits show Blake Lively sending Justin Baldoni a lengthy voice memo in the weeks leading up to production of It Ends With Us.

“Hey. I hope you’re so well. Just wanted to connect just to put something on your radar. So, between us. Like, this is so premature for me to even share this with you. All good, all good stuff. Headline is great, good, great stuff,” Lively, 38, began in her voice memo, which was obtained by Us Weekly.

The message sent on February 8, 2023, continued, “But I was talking to Ryan [Reynolds] and I was like, ‘I don’t know if I should share this,’ but he was like, ‘You guys have such a great trust, you know. Fill him in.’”

In the nearly 5-minute voice message, Lively got candid about juggling a separate movie and It Ends With Us with parenthood after welcoming her fourth child with Reynolds. (The couple share daughters James, 11, Inez, 9, and Betty 6, and son Olin, 2.)

Lively went on to note that she and Reynolds “still don’t have a baby nurse,” explaining that she was overwhelmed with the idea of returning to work for back-to-back projects.

“Just the idea of going back to work every day right away and also the idea of, you know, prepping for our movie and wanting to work out every day and all that and yet being on set every day,” Lively shared. “I’m like, ‘What have I done?’ The only reason that I’m doing [that movie] before is because I gave them my word and I wouldn’t go back on that and felt like I had to make it work. But having a week off in between, it’s just a lot. It’s a lot.”

She continued, “And the closer the reality gets, the more I’m just panicking about that. Because I’d really like to just focus on our movie. … Shooting in April, shooting in March is just too soon after having a baby and not sleeping and wanting to be in my best shape and all that.”

Lively then proposed an idea to Baldoni of adjusting the production timeline, recognizing that her request was “selfish.”

“Obviously there’s selfish reasons I’m telling you this,” she said. “If by chance you’re like, ‘Oh, my God, if I could go two weeks earlier, that would actually be great,’ then amazing. And if it is what it is, then it is what it is.”

She continued, “Selfishly, what I would love about that, is that Ryan and I have also been really stressed about spending a month apart. None of it is your problem. ​​That’s why I’m talking to you as a friend at this point more than anything but the idea of spending all of June apart is a lot. The most we have ever done is less than two weeks.”

At the end of her voice note, Lively concluded, “So nice talking to you. Not talking to you, this is so sad. This is my social interaction these days, just talking into voice memos. OK, I hope you’re well. Send my love to your family who don’t know me. Take care, bye.”

One year after the voice message was sent, news broke in 2024 that Lively sued It Ends with Us costar and director Baldoni for sexual harassment and trying to destroy her reputation. Baldoni has denied all allegations. He went on to file a countersuit, which was dismissed in 2025. The pair are scheduled to go to trial in May.