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The ongoing legal drama involving Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni has taken yet another unexpected turn, proving that this saga can indeed become even more convoluted.
At the heart of this turmoil is none other than Taylor Swift, a long-time friend of Lively. Their friendship has recently garnered significant media attention as Lively finds herself entrenched in a lawsuit against her co-star, Baldoni, from the film It Ends With Us.
Lively has made serious allegations against Baldoni, claiming sexual harassment occurred during the movie’s production. In a counterclaim, Baldoni asserts that Lively, along with her husband Ryan Reynolds and their public relations team, allegedly conspired to defame and extort him.
In this image, Taylor Swift and Blake Lively cheer for their teams at the thrilling game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on October 1, 2023, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)Fast forward to May 14, and the legal battle has taken a surprising twist.
Just five days after Swift was issued a subpoena to testify in the upcoming trial between Lively and Baldoni—primarily because Baldoni claims that Swift was present during a meeting in Lively’s penthouse where he felt coerced into agreeing to specific script changes—Baldoni’s legal representative stated that Lively allegedly “requested that Ms. Swift issue a statement supporting Ms. Lively.”
In this recent legal filing, Baldoni’s attorney references a “source deemed highly credible” who claims that Lively requested Swift to delete text messages that presumably relate to Baldoni’s allegations against Lively.
Additionally, the letter contains accusations that Lively’s attorney reached out to Swift’s lawyer, insisting that Ms. Swift provide a supportive statement for Lively. Furthermore, it insinuates that if Swift declines, private text messages of a sensitive nature in Lively’s possession would be made public.
Here, Taylor Swift is seen at the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards on February 2, 2025. (Photo Credit: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)These allegations strongly suggest that Blake Lively may have attempted to pressure Taylor Swift, threatening to expose potentially damaging text messages unless Swift publicly supported her.
In response to these serious allegations, Lively’s attorney, Michael Gottlieb, vehemently denied the claims on Wednesday, labeling them as “completely untrue” and “cowardly, based on supposed anonymous sources and entirely disconnected from the truth.”
Gottlieb elaborated:
“This is the kind of behavior we have come to expect from the legal representatives of the Wayfarer parties, who seem more interested in making baseless claims without evidence and disregarding the impact on innocent individuals caught in the crossfire.”
“We will swiftly file motions with the court to hold these attorneys accountable for their unethical conduct.”
In this image, Justin Baldoni attends the premiere of It Ends With Us at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on August 6, 2024, in New York City. (Photo Credit: Cindy Ord/Getty Images)Following the allegations, Lively’s legal team submitted a letter to Judge Liman, requesting the court to dismiss Baldoni’s previous accusations.
“On behalf of our client, Blake Lively, we respectfully request that the letter submitted by Mr. Bryan Freedman and filed today be removed from the court record,” stated the formal communication.
“This letter, which lacks any evidentiary foundation, falsely accuses Ms. Lively and her legal team of engaging in witness tampering and evidence spoliation based solely on unverified anonymous sources.”
“Responding to these unfounded, anonymous allegations is unnecessary, yet we feel compelled to clarify that every claim made in the Freedman Letter is unequivocally false and can be disproven.”
“From a legal standpoint, the Freedman Letter is inappropriate. It does not request any form of legal relief, is irrelevant to the ongoing motions before the Court, and serves no constructive purpose. It contributes nothing of value to the Court.”
Here, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are seen at the 2025 TIME100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 24, 2025, in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for TIME)According to reports, the ongoing legal disputes and the surrounding allegations have strained Lively’s relationship with Swift.
Back in January, as part of Baldoni’s defamation suit, Baldoni included text messages exchanged between himself and Lively, in which Lively seemingly referred to Swift as “one of her dragons.”
This connection is likely why Baldoni’s legal team is attempting to pull the immensely popular Swift into this complicated legal situation.
After news broke regarding the subpoena, a representative for Swift firmly denied any involvement with Lively and Baldoni’s film It Ends With Us, which is the source of the ongoing litigation.
The statement emphasized:
“Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting decisions or creative processes, she did not score the film, she never viewed any edits, nor did she provide feedback on the project. In fact, she only watched ‘It Ends With Us’ weeks after its public release while she was on a global tour, headlining the biggest music event in history.”
“Her only connection to the film was licensing a song, a contribution shared by 19 other artists. This subpoena appears to be an attempt to exploit Taylor Swift’s name for media attention, ultimately distracting from the actual facts of the case.”
