Justin Baldoni compliments Blake Lively in leaked voice memo amid legal battle

Justin Baldoni reportedly called his It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively “beautiful” in a voice message that surfaced amid their ongoing legal dispute.

According to TMZ, the message dates to early 2023, when Lively shared photos of herself trying on costumes for her character, Lily Bloom. 

In the voice message, Baldoni, 42, can be heard saying, “Hey Blake, I hope the fitting was super successful. Thank you for sending those pictures, it was really cool. I was in the department head meeting, and they came through, and I legit got the chills when I saw it. You look beautiful. It’s going to work so well.”

The leaked note follows previously unsealed messages in which Lively, married to Ryan Reynolds, described Baldoni as a “friend.” 

In one text regarding filming schedules for It Ends With Us and another project, Proxy, Lively said she was reaching out “as a friend more than anything” about balancing work after giving birth to her son, Olin, in February 2023. 

She pointed out that she didn’t communicate with other directors in the same way and hoped Baldoni would accommodate her needs.

Filming for Proxy ran from March to May 2023, while It Ends With Us initially shot from May to June 2023 before resuming in January 2024 following the writer’s strike.

Rumours of a feud emerged after It Ends With Us’s release in August 2024. In December, Lively filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni, which he denied and countersued over in January 2025, though his case was later dismissed.

The co-stars are scheduled to appear in court on May 18, 2026, to resolve their disputes.