Blake Lively ‘threatening' Taylor Swift with ‘private texts' if singer doesn't support her, claims Justin Baldoni in new court filing

Indian Express

14-05-2025

All is not well between besties Taylor Swift and Blake Lively, according to Justin Baldoni, whose legal team in a new court filing accused the Gossip Girl star of threatening the singer with their private texts if she doesn't extend public support to her in the ongoing It Ends With Us legal drama. Earlier, the Cruel Summer singer was subpoenaed in the case, following which reports emerged that Swift's team is fighting the decision, maintaining that the pop star has no connection to the ongoing case. Lively's lawyer, on the other hand, has slammed the new filing as 'categorically false.' Here's what happened.
According to the court document obtained by Page Six, Blake's attorney, Michael Gottlieb of Willkie Farr, reached out to Taylor Swift's law firm, Venable, and demanded 'that Ms. Swift release a statement of support for Ms. Lively, intimating that if Ms. Swift refused to do so, private text messages of a personal nature in Ms. Lively's possession would be released.' However, Gottlieb has called out these filings and responded on behalf of Blake and her team, saying, Justin's team is just trying to cause trouble and hurt people without evidence. 'We unequivocally deny all of these so-called allegations, which are cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources, and completely untethered from reality.' The back-and-forth comes days after both Blake and her husband Reynolds, called out Justin Baldoni over Swift's subpoena, even comparing the move to the Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Also read: Taylor Swift's rep rips into Justin Baldoni over subpoena, calls it a 'clickbait' move: 'She was on tour, not on set'
Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios claimed they received the information from a 'highly reliable' anonymous source. Baldoni also says Blake asked Taylor to delete their text messages. According to Justin's lawyers, Taylor's lawyer sent a written reply telling Blake's lawyer to stop these threats, calling them 'inappropriate' and 'extortionate.' They want to get hold of these communications to prove there was an attempt to intimidate Taylor, who is considered a key witness. While it was not mentioned what messages they wanted to erase, Baldoni's team has pointed to the 'dragon reference' in their earlier lawsuit, where Blake compared Swift and her husband to Game of Thrones characters while suggesting creative changes in the rooftop scene, allegedly pressuring Baldoni to comply as he was up against some of the most powerful names. Blake's lawyer further responded with, 'This is what we have come to expect from the Wayfarer parties' lawyers, who appear to love nothing more than shooting first, without any evidence, and with no care for the people they are harming in the process.
Taylor Swift's team has previously denied her involvement in the movie or any part of this drama other than giving permission to use her song 'My Tears Ricochet,' to be used in the movie. Taylor was busy touring worldwide during this whole time. 'Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film.' Blake's team, on the other hand, called Justin a 'bully' for trying to drag Taylor into the case. They say Justin's lawyers are turning a serious sexual harassment case into tabloid entertainment.
Also read: Blake Lively's team responds to Justin Baldoni's video from the sets of It Ends With Us: 'Every moment of this was improvised with no discussion or consent in advance'
Baldoni's lawyer's claims come just a day after Taylor Swift's law firm filed papers fighting the decision to drag the singer into court. According to Page Six, Venable called the subpoena 'an abuse of the discovery process.' They claimed that neither Swift nor her legal team has anything to do with 'the film at issue or any of the claims or defenses asserted in the underlying lawsuit,' adding, 'There is no reason for this subpoena other than to distract from the facts of the case and impose undue burden and expense on a non-party.'
Back in December 2024, Blake Lively sued her co-star and director of It Ends With Us, Justin Baldoni, on sexual harassment charges alongside other abuse claims, including launching a smear campaign against her. In retaliation, Justin denies everything and in January counter-sued Blake and Ryan Reynolds, fighting back with a $400 million countersuit accusing Blake and others of defamation and extortion.