Blake Lively and Taylor Swift’s ultra-tight friendship is being dragged into some messy legal territory.
In a wild twist in the It Ends With Us legal showdown between Lively and co-star Justin Baldoni, Baldoni’s lawyers are now claiming that Lively tried to pressure Swift into publicly backing her, by threatening to leak private text messages. Yep, that’s the accusation, and it’s making serious waves.
According to a new court filing from Baldoni’s team dated May 14, the bombshell allegation states that Lively told Swift to delete some texts and even pushed her to release a public statement of support during the ongoing lawsuit. If Swift didn’t, Lively allegedly threatened to make those texts public.
This all started heating up when Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, challenged a subpoena sent to Venable, the law firm repping Swift. In response, Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, wrote a letter to the judge defending the need for that subpoena. He claims he was tipped off by a “highly reliable” source who said Lively was pushing Swift to get involved in the legal mess, whether she wanted to or not.
Freedman also says Swift’s attorney got a call from Lively’s legal team demanding a public statement of support, with the alleged threat of releasing private messages if she didn’t comply. The letter goes as far as to accuse Lively of trying to “intimidate and coerce a percipient witness” in the case. That’s serious.
Lively’s side isn’t taking this quietly. Her attorney, Mike Gottlieb, fired back hard, calling the entire claim “categorically false.” In a statement to People, he slammed the allegations as “cowardly,” said they were based on anonymous tips, and accused Baldoni’s legal team of launching baseless attacks. “We will imminently file motions with the court to hold these attorneys accountable for their misconduct,” he said.
So where does Taylor Swift fit into all this? She’s trying to stay far away. Her rep released a lengthy statement on May 9, distancing the pop star from the entire It Ends With Us saga. According to Swift’s team, she never visited the movie set, never helped with casting or edits, and only allowed the use of her song “My Tears Ricochet.” They added that 19 other artists also licensed tracks for the film, and this subpoena is just a publicity move to get headlines.
And while Swift may not be deeply involved, she’s definitely in the orbit. Lively and Swift are known to be super close, Swift is even godmother to Lively’s kids. They’ve been spotted hanging with Reynolds and Hugh Jackman at football games and other events. But now Jackman’s name is also being floated as a potential witness. One source said anyone who knows anything about the Lively-Baldoni tension could get subpoenaed, regardless of how famous they are. Another insider claimed it’s all just a distraction tactic.
Lively, 37, filed her lawsuit against Baldoni, 41, accusing him of sexual harassment and retaliation during production of It Ends With Us. Baldoni responded with a massive $400 million countersuit, claiming Lively and others defamed and tried to extort him.
There’s more: previous exhibits in the case already included some of Lively’s texts where she called Swift and Reynolds her “dragons”, a term Baldoni’s legal team is using to argue that Lively weaponized her celebrity friendships to manipulate the situation. Freedman even stated, “She used her ‘dragons’ to manipulate Justin at every turn.”
In an earlier interview with Gayle King on CBS Mornings in August 2024, Lively hinted at how involved Swift had been. “She was with me throughout this whole process,” she said, suggesting Swift knew a lot more than she might be letting on now.
Still, Swift’s camp is sticking to their story, they had nothing to do with the movie beyond a simple music license. Swift’s rep made it clear: “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.”
At this point, it’s hard to say where this celebrity-fueled legal mess will land next. But with claims of threats, leaked texts, and the biggest pop star on the planet now in the crossfire, it’s safe to say this case just went from courtroom drama to full-on Hollywood thriller.
Jamie Wells has a knack for getting the inside scoop on Hollywood’s biggest stars and up-and-coming talent. With a sharp eye for industry trends and an ear for viral moments, Jamie covers everything from red-carpet events to behind-the-scenes drama in movies, TV, and celebrity culture.
