Blake Lively fights to keep Taylor Swift's private texts away from Justin Baldoni; files motion to block access

Indian Express

13 hours ago

Justin Baldoni's $400 million countersuit against Blake Lively may have been tossed aside, but the legal war is still raging on. On Friday, Gossip Girl star filed a motion in a New York court, seeking 'protective orders' in an attempt to protect her communication with popstar Taylor Swift. Earlier, it was reported that Swift had been approached by Lively's team to delete the text exchanges between them. Now, according to the court filing, Lively's attorneys urged the judge to block Baldoni's lawyers from obtaining those messages, saying they have nothing to do with the ongoing case. This comes hours after Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, called Lively's victory false, alleging the court has asked them to amend and refile the lawsuit.
Also read: Blake Lively opens up on emotional turmoil caused by Justin Baldoni's lawsuit, reacts to dismissal: 'I've felt the pain'
Baldoni's lawyers had earlier subpoenaed Taylor Swift and her legal team, citing her involvement in the movie It Ends With Us, alleging creative interference. However, last month, they unexpectedly dropped the charge after the singer's attorney objected to what they called an 'unwarranted fishing expedition.' Lively's side now wants Swift excluded from the dispute altogether.
According to the letter obtained by PEOPLE, Baldoni's Wayfarer Parties 'have pursued these communications at the same time they have refused to produce to Ms. Lively the documents they publicly claimed to have received as part of a deal to withdraw their subpoenas to Ms. Swift and her counsel.' When dropping the subpoena earlier, Freedman said, they got 'excatly what they were looking for'. However, later, Lively's side published an email from Swift's attorney, Doug Baldridge, disputing the statement. 'No documents are being produced and no deposition is being scheduled.'
Baldoni suffered a major legal setback Monday when Judge Lewis Liman dismissed his defamation and extortion suit against his co-star, her publicist, and The New York Times. The same suit also referenced Swift discussing how Ryan Reynolds and the singer's presence during a dinner invitation pressured Baldoni into making changes to a particular rooftop scene in the movie. Lively later allegedly called the two of them 'dragons,' referring to popular Game of Thrones characters.
In the recent court filing, Lively's attorney Esra Hudson said, 'Good cause exists for this request because it has been a tactic' of Wayfarer Parties to stir tabloid attention without any legitimate legal basis. Meanwhile, Lively's harassment and retaliation suit against Baldoni and others involved in production remains intact. The Hollywood A-lister has filed additional charges alleging that Baldoni and his publicists orchestrated a smear campaign against her. 'The only allegations in this action that were ever remotely relevant to Ms. Swift were in the Wayfarer Parties' now-dismissed complaint,' Hudson said, according to Variety. 'Ms. Swift is not mentioned a single time in Ms. Lively's amended complaint.'
Also read: Blake Lively 'threatening' Taylor Swift with 'private texts' if singer doesn't support her, claims Justin Baldoni in new court filing
A spokesperson of Lively told the outlet, 'the ongoing attempts to once again try and use the world's biggest star as a PR tactic in this matter reflects a public unraveling of epic proportions, and serves only to distract from the fact that Justin Baldoni's lawsuits against Ms. Lively, Ryan Reynolds, their publicist, and the New York Times have been entirely dismissed.' The development comes a day after it was reported that Lively's team is preparing to subpoena Swift's ex-manager, Scooter Braun, and his K-pop wing HYBE.