Blake Lively’s Private Voice Memo to Justin Baldoni Exposed: “Talking to You As a Friend” — She Wanted a Schedule Change for ‘It Ends With Us’ Back in February 2023!

She wanted “A Simple Favor.”

Blake Lively sent Justin Baldoni a private voice memo about the “It Ends With Us” production schedule in February 2023, which has been unsealed in their ongoing legal battle.

“I hope you’re so well,” the actress began in the court exhibit, obtained by People on Thursday. “I just wanted to connect to put something on your radar.”

Blake Lively and director Justin Baldoni in discussion on the set of "It Ends With Us."
Blake Lively (pictured above in January 2024) sent Justin Baldoni a voice memo “as a friend” in February 2023, now revealed in unsealed court exhibits.Christopher Peterson / SplashNews.com

Blake Lively wearing a red dress, green emerald jewelry, and gold heels, standing outside a storefront.
At the time, the actress (pictured above in December 2025) tried to get Baldoni’s “temperature” regarding changes to the “It Ends With Us” production schedule.GC Images

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Lively confessed to hesitancy sharing her request with her co-star, noting that husband Ryan Reynolds had “encouraged” her to share.

The “Deadpool” actor, 49, supposedly said, “You guys have such a great trust. Fill [Baldoni] in.”

Lively, 38, went on to explain that she was speaking to Baldoni “as a friend more than anything” over how “stressed” she felt about filming their movie and “Proxy” back to back after welcoming son Olin.

Lively noted that she doesn’t “talk to [that director] like [she] talk[s] to” Baldoni, before briefly mentioning her struggles to find a baby nurse.

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni walking outside.
Lively (pictured above in January 2024) spoke about the “stress” she felt filming their project and “Proxy” back to back after welcoming a baby.GC Images

Blake Lively in a white tank top and blue jeans with floral cutouts, at a screening of "It Ends With Us".
“It’s just a lot,” Lively (pictured above in June 2024) admitted.Getty Images for Sony Pictures

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“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 explained. “But having a week off in between, it’s just a lot.”

The “Shallows” star, who is also the mother of daughters James, 11, Inez, 9, and Betty, 6, added, “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.”

Additionally, she admitted, “Ryan and I have also been really stressed about spending a month apart. … The most we’ve ever done is less than two weeks.”

Lively confirmed that this was “so not [Baldoni’s] problem.”

Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively walk hand-in-hand on a city street.
The “Gossip Girl” alum (pictured above in May 2025) also did not want to be apart from husband Ryan Reynolds for a month.GC Images

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni on the set of "It Ends with Us"
However, Lively (pictured above in January 2024) acknowledged this was “so not” Baldoni’s problem.GC Images
However, she said, “I know our schedule is our schedule, I’m not trying to move anything. But if by chance you’re like, ‘Oh my God, if I could go two weeks earlier, that would actually be great,’ then amazing. If it is what it is, then it is what it is.”

She concluded the voice memo, which she requested Baldoni “keep between” them, by saying, “So nice talking to you. [Well], not talking to you. This is so sad. This is my social interaction these days — just talking into voice memos.”

Reps for Lively and Baldoni did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.

Lively filmed “Proxy” between March and May 2023, followed by “It Ends With Us” between May and June 2023 — until the writers’ strike pushed the rest of filming back to January 2024.

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni looking at each other on a balcony at night.
Lively (pictured above in 2024) insisted she was “not trying to move anything.”©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

Blake Lively attends the "It Ends With Us" UK Gala Screening in a strapless, floral-beaded gown with red feather sleeves.
The “Shallows” star (pictured above in August 2024) asked that Baldoni keep her request “between [them].”Getty Images for Sony Pictures
By the time the movie, based on Colleen Hoover’s book of the same name, premiered in August 2024, Baldoni and Lively had sparked feud rumors.

The duo did not interact while promoting the project.

Four months later, Lively sued Baldoni, 42, for sexual harassment, which he has denied — and while the “Jane the Virgin” alum countersued in January 2025, his case has since been dismissed.

Their ongoing legal battle has been steadily making headlines, most recently sparking social media chatter with unsealed text messages and emails to Taylor Swift, Ben Affleck and more A-listers revealed, as well as Lively’s voice message to Baldoni.

Justin Baldoni poses on the red carpet in front of a poster for "The Boys In The Boat."
When the movie came out in August 2024, Lively and Baldoni (pictured above in December 2023) did not do promotion together.Getty Images

Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively filming a scene for "It Ends with Us" with camera crew around them.
The co-stars (pictured above in January 2024) began their messy — and ongoing — legal war that December.GC Images

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Last year, the Daily Mail obtained a voice message from Baldoni in which he apologized — at 2 a.m. — to Lively over disagreements regarding a rooftop scene’s rewrites.

While railing against “f–kheads” in the industry and what Lively has “experienced as a woman” in her career, he quipped, “Hopefully that’s not going to be the experience with me.”

Their trial will begin on May 18, 2026.