Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in a scene from ‘It Ends With Us’. Picture: Supplied
Justin Baldoni apologised to Blake Lively in a voice note allegedly sent to her after they had a disagreement over the rooftop scene in “It Ends with Us”.
The former “Gossip Girl” actress recently filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, claiming he sexually harassed her on set and subjected her to a smear campaign following the release of their movie last August.
Baldoni, who acted in and directed the feature, denied the allegations and filed a lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and publicist Leslie Sloane.
The lawsuits are to be addressed at a trial set for March 2026 in New York.
In the latest development, editors at “TMZ” published a nearly seven-minute-long audio clip on Monday in which Baldoni can allegedly be heard apologising to Lively following a disagreement over the script for the pivotal rooftop scene in the movie.
The voice note was apparently recorded in April 2023.
"I want to start with an apology," he began, noting that his "heart sank" when he read a text message Lively had sent about "not always (being) good" at ensuring she is seen on set.
"I for sure fell short and you worked really hard on that, and the way you framed it, and how that made you feel ... I just wanted to say thank you for sharing that with me.
“That takes a lot of trust and vulnerability, and I feel really grateful that you feel safe enough to tell me that that's how you feel and share that with me. I f**ked up."
Baldoni went on to admit he's a "very flawed man" but insisted he would always apologise "when I fail".
"I'm gonna f**k up. I'm going to say the wrong thing. I'm going to put my foot in my mouth ... but I will always apologise and find my way back to centre," the 41-year-old continued
"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, and I should've given it more time."
In his lawsuit, Baldoni claims Lively and Reynolds once invited him to their New York City home, along with long-time friend Taylor Swift, who allegedly praised the mother-of-four's script rewrites.
In the clip, Baldoni maintained he didn't need Reynolds or Swift to stand up for Lively's rewrites as they are "really good and it's going to make the movie sing like you said".
Elsewhere, Baldoni conceded communicating via text and voice notes wasn't his "biggest strength" and claimed he would send her the script once he had "implemented" her suggestions into the "working draft".
"All that to say, I'm just looking forward to spending time together and I think that's really going to go a long way for our chemistry, which I believe is there, (and) has been there from the start," the “Jane the Virgin” star added.
During the press tour in August last year, Lively told E! that Reynolds "actually wrote" the rooftop scene, a revelation which came as a surprise to screenwriter Christy Hall.
Representatives for Baldoni and Lively have not yet commented on the audio clip.