Justin Baldoni Addresses Blake Lively’s ‘Dragons’ in Voice Message: ‘You Got Great Friends’ [LISTEN]

Justin Baldoni addressed his It Ends With Us costar Blake Lively‘s “dragons” in a leaked voice message, seeming to praise her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and close pal Taylor Swift prior to filing a $400 million lawsuit against the actress and her spouse.

“Damn right, you got great friends. If that’s how you felt, and they knew that. F–k,” Justin, 41, stated in a six-minute clip obtained by In Touch on Monday, January 27. The Daily Mail was first to report on the voice message.

“We should all have friends like that, aside from the fact they’re two of the most creative people on the planet … The three of you guys together is unbelievable. Talk about energy. Force. All three of you,” the film’s director continued.

“You and I have been trying to build a relationship which I think we’ve done successfully. Here we are talking together at 2 a.m. in the morning,” Justin continued, as he and Blake’s professional relationship didn’t seem to have deteriorated so drastically at that point.

He admitted, “But largely via text and voicemail and I will admit, that’s not my biggest strength. I love being with people and being in somebody’s space and being face-to-face and I think that’s where I excel. But I’ve definitely fallen short at times in our texts and voicemail exchanges because there’s so much to communicate and so much happening.”

“All I have to say is I’m really looking forward to spending time together and I believe that’s going to go a long way for our chemistry, which I believe is there. It’s been there from the start, so I was so damn excited when you agreed to do this film. I believe it comes from us both being so hard working and having a vision,” Justin added. “I’m excited to have a creative partner in that with you.”

In Justin’s $400 million lawsuit against Blake, 37, Ryan, 48, and her publicist Leslie Sloane, he shared texts showing the Gossip Girl alum talking about having two “dragons” on her side.

“If you ever get around to watching Game of Thrones, you’ll appreciate that I’m Khaleesi, and like her, I happen to have a few dragons,” the text read, according to lawsuit paperwork obtained by In Touch. “For better or worse, but usually better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for. So really, we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. You will too, I can promise you.”

“I really love what you did. It really does help a lot. Makes it so much more fun and interesting. (And I would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor),” Justin replied in an April 2023 text with a wink emoji, seemingly referencing Blake’s close pal Taylor, 35. “You really are a talent across the board. Really excited and grateful to do this together.”

Justin’s 179-page complaint filed in the Southern District of New York on January 16, accused Blake and Ryan of civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privacy.

The Jane the Virgin alum said he felt “reluctant to” let Blake rewrite such a key part of the movie, but “agreed to take a look at what she put together.” What came back was a “dramatically” different version of the original rooftop scene.

Justin said he was asked over to Blake and Ryan’s penthouse for dinner where they were later joined by “another megacelebrity friend,” who praised the actress’ new version of the rooftop scene where her Lily meets Justin’s Ryle for the first time.

“[Justin] understood the subtext: he needed to comply with [Blake’s] direction for the script,” the suit continued.

Blake started the legal battle by filing a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department in December 2024 against Justin and his production company, Wayfarer Studios. The Shallows star claimed she and other cast and crew experienced “invasive, unwelcome, unprofessional and sexually inappropriate behavior” by Justin while including the company’s CEO, Jamey Heath, in the complaint. He served as a producer on It Ends With Us.

The following day, The New York Times published an article titled “We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” which detailed an alleged campaign to harm Blake’s reputation after she accused Justin of misconduct.

On December 31, 2024, Blake formally filed a lawsuit in New York federal court against Justin, publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, Wayfarer Studios and several others for “retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns.”

Later that day, Justin sued The New York Times for libel in a $250 civil suit, claiming their article was “rife with inaccuracies, misrepresentations, and omissions” that relied on Blake’s “self-serving narrative.” It also accused the paper of bowing “to the wants and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites,” referring to Blake and Ryan.

Justin and Wayfarer’s powerhouse lawyer, Bryan Freedman, told In Touch when filing the $400 million lawsuit that it was “a legal action based on an overwhelming amount of untampered evidence detailing Blake Lively and her team’s duplicitous attempt to destroy Justin Baldoni, his team and their respective companies by disseminating grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new and doctored information to the media. It is clear based on our own all-out willingness to provide all complete text messages, emails, video footage and other documentary evidence that was shared between the parties in real time, that this is a battle she will not win and will certainly regret.