Newly unsealed court exhibits have brought to light a private voice message sent by Blake Lively to her It Ends With Us costar and director Justin Baldoni in the weeks before production began.
The recording has surfaced amid an ongoing legal battle between the two. In December 2024, Lively, now 38, filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, 42, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation. Baldoni has denied the claims. Lively is seeking more than $160 million in damages, with the trial scheduled to take place in New York in May 2026.
According to court documents, the voice note was recorded on February 8, 2023. In the audio, Lively speaks openly about the pressure she was feeling as she prepared to return to work while managing multiple professional commitments, caring for a newborn and balancing family responsibilities.
“I’m talking to you as a friend at this point more than anything,” Lively says in the message.
At the time, Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds were raising four children together: daughters James, 11, Inez, 9, and Betty, 6, along with their youngest son, Olin, who was 2 years old.
In the message, Lively explains that she had already committed to filming another project before It Ends With Us, despite feeling emotionally and physically stretched thin. “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,” she says. “But having a week off in between, it’s just a lot.”
She also discusses the strain of returning to work without adequate childcare support in place. “I still don’t have a baby nurse,” Lively says, adding that the idea of resuming work so soon felt overwhelming.
Much of the voice message centers on scheduling concerns and her desire for more time to prepare for the film. Lively expresses concern about beginning production too soon after having a baby and struggling with exhaustion and lack of sleep.
“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,” she says.
While acknowledging that her concerns were partly personal, Lively also floated the idea of adjusting the production timeline if it could work logistically. “Obviously there’s selfish reasons I’m telling you this,” she says. “If by chance you’re like, ‘Oh my God, if I could go two weeks earlier, that would actually be great,’ then amazing.”
She ends the message on a light note, joking about how limited her social interactions had become at the time. “This is my social interaction these days — just talking into voice memos.”
During production, Baldoni also sent Lively a voice note apologizing to her after they discussed changes she made to a scene in the film. That message, along with related text exchanges, was previously leaked in January 2025, though PEOPLE was unable to verify when the recording was made.
In that earlier audio and accompanying texts, Baldoni and Lively discussed revisions to the romantic drama’s rooftop scene, with Baldoni expressing regret over how the situation unfolded.
The newly unsealed voice message provides additional context as the legal dispute between the former collaborators continues.
Source: People