Justin Baldoni Admitted He ‘F—ed Up’ to Blake Lively in a Leaked Voice Memo Released Amid Their Lengthy Legal Battle

Amid the slew of texts and emails provided by Justin Baldoni’s legal team, new exchanges between the It Ends With Us director and Blake Lively have been revealed. A leaked voice memo reveals what Justin Baldoni said to the actress about script changes

On January 16, 2024, Justin Baldoni, his company Wayfarer Studios, producer Jamey Heath, and his publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York, where they accuse Lively and Reynolds of civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy. They are seeking $400 million in damages. Lively “stole Wayfarer’s movie, hijacked Wayfarer’s premiere, destroyed Plaintiffs’ personal and professional reputations and livelihood, and aimed to drive Plaintiffs out of business entirely,” the lawsuit reads. It further appears that Lively worked for months with the equally powerful New York Times to prepare a false and damaging narrative to deploy against Plaintiffs.”

Related: See all the text messages and emails included in Justin Baldoni’s lawsuit

Baldoni sued The New York Times after they published a story “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine” including Blake Lively’s allegations of sexual harrassment against the director. TMZ obtained a six-minute voice memo he sent her at 2 a.m. when they were making script changes. According to the lawsuit, “Baldoni 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.” Here’s what he said during the initial exchanges.

What did Justin Baldoni say in his voice memo to Blake Lively?

“Hey Blake, it’s 2 in the morning. Hopefully this does not wake you up. There is so much I want to say to you,” Justin Baldoni began the voice memo, adding that he was “grateful” that she felt “safe enough” for him to open up to him.

“I’m really sorry. I f—ed up. That is a fail on my part,” Baldoni confessed. “One thing you should know about me, 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 gonna f— up. I’m gonna say the wrong thing,” he continued. “I’m gonna put my foot in my mouth. I’m gonna say the wrong thing, 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. That must have felt terrible. I will for sure do better. That was not my best weekend. I should’ve given it more time.”

Baldoni referred to the script changes that were seemingly written by Lively who was supported by Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively’s “megacelebrity” friend, who is suspected to be Taylor Swift. “Damn right you’ve got great friends if that’s how you felt, and they knew that. F—, we should all have friends like that,” Baldoni said in the memo.

Blake Lively referred to herself as Khaleesi from Game of Thrones and her friends as dragons in texts before the voice memo was sent. Baldoni called the celebs “two of the most creative people on the planet,” gushing, “The three of you guys together is unbelievable. Talk about energy. Just a force all three of you.”

Though he did push back about the changes saying that they “didn’t need” Lively’s crew to back her up on the script changes because he already knew her draft was “really good and it’s going to make the movie.”

“I’m excited to go through the whole movie with you,” he said. “I’m just excited to spend time with you. I’m excited to be in your sphere and your presence and for us to share creative juices together, although that sounds terrible.” The director later became vulnerable about his weaknesses in communication. “You and I have been trying to build a relationship, which I think we’ve done successfully. Here we are talking like this. Largely via text and voice note. I will be honest with you, that is not my biggest strength.” He added that he prefers to talk “face to face” rather than over the phone and there was already “a lot happening” ahead of filming. “I feel like that’s where I excel,” he said, noting he’s “definitely fallen short in our text and voice note communications.”

“All that’s 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,” Baldoni said. “[It] has been there from the start. That’s why I was so damn excited when you wanted to do this film.”

He fondly commented on their first meeting during a screen test, “I felt it in the room when we met. Yeah, I think it does come from the both of us being so f—ing hardworking. Having a vision. Not settling. I’m excited to have a creative partner in that with you. It’s just really exciting. There’s so much more to say.”

Baldoni promised Lively that her experiences wouldn’t be like the other male Hollywood figures, which were seemingly negative. “I am so sorry you have been through what you’ve been through with these other filmmakers and producers or whoever the people were that you worked with,” he said. “It just pissed me off. Those f—heads that—I’m just still blown away that this is the industry that we’re in and that you’ve experienced that as a woman.”

“I know I don’t need to say it but that’s not at all going to be, or will be, hopefully, it’s not been the experience with me,” Baldoni promised. “There’s nothing more exciting to me than I get to work with Blake Lively and have all of her. That’s what I want.”

He added that there was “no hesitancy with me sending you the final draft file” and that he was “totally fine” sharing that with her. However, he claimed he was trying to “implement and add your notes into my working draft.”

“I’m sorry that that has happened to you before. I hope after this experience there will be a new—I hope it will be healing in some way. That’s all I want.” He told Lively he wanted the film to be “healing” and “commercial just like you.” Baldoni proposed his “vision” for the film’s marketing wanting Lively to “walk” through his “whole plan” for the project, including “the work that we’re doing with the domestic violence partner we found, No More.” 

“I just know that this can be really, really special. It’s going to be special, and you’re the secret sauce. We’re the secret sauce,” he said. “I have so much more to say I’m gonna stop rambling.” He then referred to Blake Lively’s four children in his sign off.

“I’m sorry you probably have kids all over you and a baby on your boob and you’re listening to me ramble at 2 in the morning. I hope you’re feeling better and give Ryan my love,” Baldoni said with a laugh.

He concluded: “Thank you for sending me that. It means the world to me that you trust me with your feelings and your thoughts like that. I can’t wait to spend more time with you. OK, I’m done. Cutting myself off. Goodnight.”