Taylor Swift sidesteps Blake Lively lawsuit after blackmail claims
Taylor Swift has been spared the prospect of testifying in her friend Blake Lively's lawsuit after Justin Baldoni dropped his request seeking information from the pop superstar.
Lively and Baldoni are locked in a bitter legal battle after starring opposite each other in last summer's blockbuster It Ends with Us. Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment while he countersued for defamation.
Swift was dragged into the row through her friendship with Lively. Baldoni filed a subpoena demanding communications from their respective legal teams but the request has now been withdrawn.
The news was welcomed by Lively's representatives, who accused Baldoni of using Swift's fame to generate headlines.
'We supported the efforts of Taylor's team to quash these inappropriate subpoenas directed to her counsel and we will continue to stand up for any third party who is unjustly harassed or threatened in the process,' a spokesman said.
It Ends with Us, a romantic drama based on a popular Colleen Hoover novel, produced one of the most intense Hollywood legal rows of recent years. Lively, the film's lead actress, accused Baldoni, her director and co-star, of sexual harassment and of orchestrating a smear campaign against her.
Baldoni, 41, alleges that Lively, 37, and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, attempted to destroy his career. A trial has been set for March next year in New York.
• Inside Lively-Baldoni legal battle: texts, raw footage and a 2am apology
Swift, 35, was pulled into the row as she was allegedly present at a meeting between the warring co-stars in which Lively was said to have attempted to intimidate Baldoni into making changes to a scene in the movie.
A spokesman for the singer reacted with fury to the subpoena after it was filed this month. 'This document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift's name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case,' a representative said.
Bryan Freedman, Baldoni's lawyer, had claimed that a source told him that Lively's legal team had attempted to extort Swift. He alleged that a lawyer threatened to leak private messages between the actress and Swift if she did not release a statement supporting her.
Mike Gottlieb, Lively's lawyer, denied the claim and last week Judge Liman granted his motion to strike the letter from the docket.
He also warned that Freedman could be sanctioned for 'future misuse of the court's docket'.
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