A new voice note allegedly sent by Justin Baldoni to Blake Lively has added another page in the “It Ends With Us” stars’ legal drama.
The audio message obtained by Daily Mail was reportedly sent to Lively, 37, by Baldoni, 41, after the “Gossip Girl” alum suggested to her co-star and director that some changes be made to a pivotal scene in the movie.
The rooftop scene, in which Lively and Baldoni’s characters meet, has been the subject of much speculation in their warring lawsuits. Lively has filed two lawsuits against Baldoni and his associates — a civil rights complaint in California and a lawsuit in New York — accusing the “Jane the Virgin” actor of sexually harassing her and causing her “severe emotional distress” in addition to lost wages.
Baldoni has countersued Lively with a $400 million suit, accusing her of defamation and claiming she took certain measures to gain control over the 2024 film.
Baldoni’s lawsuit also alleged that he felt “obliged” to accept and praise a revised version of the rooftop scene allegedly written by Lively (who later claimed it was written by her husband Ryan Reynolds) for fear of incurring the wrath of Reynolds and Lively’s best friend, Taylor Swift.
Lively allegedly was not happy with Baldoni’s initial response to her rewrites. After a couple of days of radio silence from the actress, Baldoni reportedly sent Lively a voice message mea culpa.
“I want to start with an apology. Reading the second part of your message. My heart sank and I’m really sorry. I for sure fell short,” he said in the April 2023 voice note, adding that she “worked really hard” on her revised version of the scene.
“I just wanted to say thank you for sharing that with me,” he said of her reaction to his take on the rewrites. “That takes a lot of trust and vulnerability. And I just I feel really grateful that you feel safe enough to tell me that that’s how you feel and share that with me.”
He continued, “I’m really sorry. That is a fail on my part. One thing you should know about me is I will admit and apologize when I fail. I am far from perfect. I am a very flawed man. As my wife will attest.”
“I’m going to f–k up. I’m going say the wrong thing. I’m going to put my foot in my mouth. I’m going to do piss you off, probably. But I will always apologize and then find my way back to center. That is one thing I can assure you of.”
Returning to Lively’s text about his initial reaction to her rewrites, Baldoni reiterated his feelings of remorse. “I’m sorry I made you feel that way,” he continued. “That must have felt terrible. And I will for sure do better. That was not my best weekend. And I should have given it more time.”
Seemingly referring to messages the “A Simple Favor” star sent Baldoni about how Reynolds and Swift allegedly supported her in the back-and-forth over the rooftop scene, Baldoni said, “And damn right you got great friends. If that’s how you felt, and they knew that. F–k. We should all have friends like that.”
“Aside from the fact that the two of the most creative people on the planet, the three of you guys together, it’s unbelievable. Talk about energy force, all three of you.”
Lively allegedly sent Baldoni a text message, which is included in his lawsuit, referring to herself as “Khaleesi” and seemingly calling Swift and Reynolds her “dragons,” alluding to characters from “Game of Thrones.”
“But I just wanted you to know that I didn’t need that because it’s really good and it’s going to make the movies sing, like you said,” Baldoni said in the voice note. “And I’m excited to go through the whole movie with you.”
“You and I have been trying to build a relationship which I think we’ve done successfully. Here we are talking together at 2 a.m. in the morning. But largely via text and voicemail and I will admit, that’s not my biggest strength.”
He added, “I love being with people and being in somebody’s space and being face-to-face and I think that’s where I excel. But I’ve definitely fallen short at times in our texts and voicemail exchanges because there’s so much to communicate and so much happening.”
“All I have to say is I’m really looking forward to spending time together and I believe that’s going to go a long way for our chemistry, which I believe is there. It’s been there from the start so I was so damn excited when you agreed to do this film. I believe it comes from us both being so hard working and having a vision.
“I’m excited to have a creative partner in that with you.”
Baldoni signed off saying, “I’m going to stop rambling because Jesus Christ, it’s been six minutes and 30 seconds. So, f–k me. I’m sorry, you probably have kids all over you and a baby on your boob and you’re listening to me ramble at two in the morning.”
“I hope you’re feeling better. And give Ryan my love. Thank you for. For sending me. That means the world to me that you trust me with your feelings and your thoughts like that. And I can’t wait to spend more time with you. Okay. I’m done cutting myself off. Goodnight.”
The Post reached out to Baldoni and Lively for comment.
In text messages allegedly sent between Lively and Baldoni around the same time, the director again praised Lively’s rewrites while mentioning Reynolds and Swift.
“I really love what you did. It really does help a lot. Makes it so much more fun and interesting. (And I would have felt that way without Ryan or Taylor),” Baldoni reportedly said in one message.
But Baldoni’s lawyers have since argued that the star “felt obliged to text Lively to say that he had liked her pages and hadn’t needed Reynolds and her megacelebrity friend to pressure him.”
“The message could not have been clearer. Baldoni was not just dealing with Lively,” Baldoni’s legal team said in their complaint. “He was also facing Lively’s ‘dragons,’ two of the most influential and wealthy celebrities in the world, who were not afraid to make things very difficult for him.”
Baldoni is suing Lively and others on claims of civil extortion, defamation, false light invasion of privacy, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional interference with contractual relations, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage, according to his 179-page complaint obtained by The Post.
Her legal team denied the claims.
Baldoni has also sued The New York Times for libel after it published a story regarding the “It Ends With Us” director and Lively.
The newspaper told The Post it plans to “vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
In her lawsuit filed in New York, Lively has accused Baldoni of causing her “severe emotional distress and pain, humiliation, embarrassment, belittlement, frustration and mental anguish” in addition to lost wages.
Baldoni denied the allegations.
