Blake Lively Reached Out to 'Friend' Justin Baldoni as She Was 'Stressed' Over Time Away From Ryan Reynolds in Newly Unsealed Voice Memo

Blake Lively sent a nearly five-minute audio message to "friend" Justin Baldoni in the weeks leading up to filming It Ends With Us, confessing she was "stressed" about being apart from husband Ryan Reynolds.

“Hey. I hope you’re so well. Just wanted to connect just to put something on your radar," Lively, 38, began in a newly unsealed voice memo obtained by a news outlet on Thursday, January 29. "So, between us. Like, this is so premature for me to even share this with you. All good, all good stuff. Headline is great, good, great stuff."

Lively was encouraged to send the message sent on February 8, 2023, by her husband, 49, saying, "I was like, ‘I don’t know if I should share this,’ but he was like, ‘You guys have such a great trust, you know. Fill him in.’”

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants actress didn't hold back about her struggles in balancing welcoming her fourth child with filming the highly anticipated movie adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel.

“Just the idea of going back to work every day right away and also the idea of, you know, prepping for our movie and wanting to work out every day and all that and yet being on set every day,” Lively shared. “I’m like, ‘What have I done?’ 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 and felt like I had to make it work. But having a week off in between, it’s just a lot. It’s a lot.”

Lively said shooting in March was "just too soon after having a baby" and hoped to adjust the production timeline, which she recognized as "selfish."

“Selfishly, what I would love about that, is that Ryan and I have also been really stressed about spending a month apart. None of it is your problem," the Gossip Girl star said. "That’s why I’m talking to you as a friend at this point more than anything but the idea of spending all of June apart is a lot. The most we have ever done is less than two weeks.”

Lively ended her voice message by saying, “So nice talking to you. Not talking to you, this is so sad. This is my social interaction these days, just talking into voice memos. OK, I hope you’re well. Send my love to your family who don’t know me. Take care, bye.”

It Ends With Us hit theaters in August 2024, and just four months later, Lively filed a lawsuit, accusing Baldoni, 41, and others at Wayfarer Studios of sexual harassment and retaliation.

The Jane the Virgin star denied the allegations and filed his own $400 million countersuit in January 2025 against Lively and her husband, citing defamation and extortion. Baldoni's lawsuit was dismissed by a judge in June 2025.

Lively's case against her former costar was previously scheduled to go to trial in March, but has since been postponed until May.