Blake Lively reached out to Justin Baldoni with a private voice message in February 2023 regarding scheduling concerns for their film “It Ends With Us,” which has since surfaced in court documents amid their legal dispute. The actress, then recently postpartum with son Olin, expressed anxiety about filming the project back-to-back with another movie, “Proxy,” while adjusting to motherhood and lacking childcare support.
Lively disclosed that husband Ryan Reynolds encouraged her to voice her concerns to Baldoni, citing their professional trust. She emphasized feeling overwhelmed by the tight timeline, noting that shooting in March and April would leave insufficient recovery time after childbirth. The mother of four also shared her reluctance to spend a month apart from Reynolds, as their previous separations had never exceeded two weeks.
While clarifying she wasn’t demanding schedule changes, Lively floated the possibility of starting production earlier if feasible. She requested Baldoni keep the conversation confidential, humorously lamenting that voice memos had become her primary social outlet at the time.
Their professional relationship later fractured when Lively sued Baldoni for sexual harassment in December 2024—a claim he denied before countersuing. His countersuit was ultimately dismissed in January 2025. Since then, legal filings have unveiled private communications involving high-profile figures, including a separate 2 a.m. voice memo from Baldoni apologizing for creative disagreements during filming.
The film, adapted from Colleen Hoover’s novel, faced production delays due to the 2023 writers’ strike and wrapped in early 2024. By its August 2024 premiere, tensions between the co-stars became evident through their separate promotional appearances. Their ongoing legal battle is scheduled for trial in May 2026.