Justin Baldoni gushes over 'beautiful' Blake Lively in leaked voice note
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Justin Baldoni lavished praise on his 'beautiful' It Ends With Us costar Blake Lively in a leaked voice note, before their professional relationship turned sour.
In a recording sent before production on the 2024 film began - and before the actress filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him - the director, 42, thanked Lively, 38, for sending him photos from her costume fittings.
Baldoni told Lively he 'legit got the chills' upon seeing the images, in the audio note shared by TMZ on Monday.
'Hey Blake, I hope the fitting was super successful. Thank you for sending those pictures. That was really cool,' Baldoni said.
'I was in the department head meeting, and they came through, and I was, like, waiting for them to load, and I legit got the chills when I saw it. And, you look beautiful,' he gushed.
At the end, he added, 'It's gonna work so well.'
Justin Baldoni, 42, lavished praise on his 'beautiful' It Ends With Us costar, Blake Lively, 38, in a leaked voice note, before their professional relationship turned sour
The Daily Mail has reached out to Baldoni and Lively's representatives for comment.
While he initially lauded her during the fitting process, the pair later clashed over the creative direction of her character's wardrobe.
Baldoni claimed that the film's budget ballooned by $430,000 after Lively allegedly demanded that her wardrobe be 're-shopped' to match her vision for the character Lily Bloom.
He further claimed Lively 'often' refused to go for fittings at the production office 15 minutes from her Manhattan home, and she allegedly demanded the outfits be shipped to her at great extra expense.
Documents from Baldoni's since-dismissed countersuit claimed that he and the studio 'ceded full control to Lively over her wardrobe' in an 'effort to maintain harmony' and 'avoid further delays,' which would later prove 'regrettable'.
There was a reported backlash from Sony when paparazzi photos of Lively wearing her new outfits, consisting of a lot of patchwork, denim and camouflage, while filming on May 15, 2023, were published, with the images 'widely reported as unflattering.'
The lawsuit claims: 'Baldoni received direct criticism from Sony, who voiced serious concerns about the impact of the photos on the film’s public reception.'
Lively reportedly raided her own jewelry collection and borrowed clothes from her model friend Gigi Hadid for the movie.
Baldoni told Lively he 'legit got the chills' upon seeing photos from her costume fittings, in a recording made prior to her filing a sexual harassment lawsuit against him
Lively on set as Lily Bloom in 2023. While Baldoni initially lauded her during the fitting process, the pair later clashed over the creative direction of her character's wardrobe
Lively reportedly raided her own jewelry collection and borrowed clothes from her model friend Gigi Hadid for her outfits in the movie
Lively's husband Ryan Reynolds has also been dragged into the fallout
The new voice note comes days after another audio clip was released, shedding light on Lively's allegation that she was 'fat shamed' by Baldoni.
The unearthed recording, obtained by the Daily Mail from court filings in New York, captures Lively speaking candidly to Baldoni in February 2023, just weeks after she gave birth to her fourth child and months before cameras started rolling.
The audio, released as part of Baldoni's bid to have Lively's $160 million lawsuit dismissed before the case goes to trial in May, appears to undermine one of her most explosive claims – that she was humiliated when Baldoni allegedly made comments about her weight shortly after she had given birth.
Lively alleges in her lawsuit that Baldoni asked her personal trainer, Dan Saladino, about her weight, a comment Saladino then relayed to her.
The Gossip Girl star maintains that Baldoni also sexually harassed her on the set of It Ends With Us and retaliated against her with a smear campaign.
Baldoni — who has previously accused Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds of using their combined star power to hijack his film — has denied the claims against him, but a judge dismissed the actor's own $400 million defamation countersuit last year.
It Ends With Us earned $148 million in domestic box office and $350 million globally, but whatever goodwill the film garnered has since been overshadowed by the allegations made by its stars.
Lively and Baldoni in It Ends With Us. Their trial is set to take place in New York in May
In a series of recently unsealed text messages from the lawsuit, Reynolds lashed out at 'dumb-dumb' Baldoni while claiming that his wife was responsible for the box office success of the movie.
In one text exchange from July 2024 to a WME executive, Reynolds allegedly referred to Baldoni as a 'thoroughbred, predatory fraudster' and an 'inexplicably toxic mess'.
Reynolds was also recently tormented by fans over the 'cringe' lengthy email he wrote to It Ends With Us author Colleen Hoover, which was among the newly unsealed exhibits in the case.
He seemingly mocked Baldoni, writing, 'I heard you guys got a tummy bug and you're stuck in NY. I can't think of anything worse. Although it might be your body ridding itself of any residual Baldoni.'
'I'd rather be puking in a gulag than hijacking performative feminism while practicing personal growth catchphrases in the mirror,' he added.
Fans were confused by Reynolds's close involvement in the film and the lengthy email, with many calling it 'cringe' and 'egotistical'.
Hollywood's glossiest names have been dragged into the fallout.
In unsealed texts from Lively to her friend Taylor Swift, the actress allegedly called Baldoni a 'doofus' while Swift reportedly referred to him as a 'b***h'.
Lively also appeared to have asked Ben Affleck for assistance in her feud with Baldoni during the making of It Ends with Us.
Court documents also contained messages Lively and Reynolds allegedly sent Affleck's best friend, Matt Damon, and his wife, Luciana Barroso.
