Justin Baldoni’s Studio Honcho
Calls Blake Lively’s Accusations ‘Manufactured’
… In Recorded Phone Call
Published
There’s a new audio recording in the Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively saga … and it reveals Justin’s business partner trashing Blake’s allegations of inappropriate behavior during a secretly recorded phone call.
Claire Ayoub — who wrote and directed a film called “Empire Waist,” produced by Wayfarer and Baldoni — says she recorded her phone chat with Wayfarer’s billionaire co-founder Steve Sarowitz.
In a September 2025 declaration, Claire said she’d endured “repeated, negative interactions” and “verbal abuse” from Baldoni when they worked on “Empire Waist” … and that’s why she recorded the call.
In the audio, filed by Lively’s attorneys, Sarowitz says “everything was made up” and “it was manufactured on purpose to take Justin down” … referring to the drama during “It Ends With Us.”
He added, “Justin never has a bad set,” but “it was the worst set he’s ever been on. Still, Sarowitz tried to downplay all the bad buzz.
Later in the recording, Sarowitz seems to vent about the ongoing case between Baldoni and Lively, telling Claire, “There will be 2 dead bodies when I’m done, minimum. Not dead, but dead to me — that kind of dead … I’m going to spend a lot of money to make sure the studio is protected.”
As we’ve reported, Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni and Wayfarer, claiming he sexually harassed Lively during the production of their film “It Ends With Us” and alleging he spearheaded a smear campaign against her … claims Baldoni has denied.
For her part, Claire says her experience with Baldoni was bad enough she’d requested he not be included in any marketing for their film. She says she feared Sarowitz was going to pressure her about Baldoni … hence, the recorded call.
We reached out to Baldoni’s reps, who had no comment. We’ve also reached out to Lively’s reps … so far no word back.