Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are facing a legal battle after the Gossip Girl star sued her co-director, Justin Baldoni, for sexual harassment during the filming of It Ends With Us. Baldoni countersued Lively, Reynolds, and their publicity team for defamation and extortion.
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Taylor Swift has been dragged into the legal battle after Lively reportedly referred to Swift as her ‘dragon’ to pressure Baldoni to follow her directions. As a result, Taylor Swift has been subpoenaed (a written order to attend court).
Since the legal issue between Baldoni and Lively started, it has been suggested that Taylor Swift has been distancing herself from her long-term friend. Indeed, Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, recently reportedly unfollowed Ryan Reynolds.
Amid Swift’s silence, Baldoni’s lawyer has claimed that the Gossip Girl actress ‘threatened’ her friend to publicly side with her. Here’s what we know so far.
Justin Baldoni's lawyer claims Blake Lively ‘threatened’ Taylor Swift
As reported by Daily Mail, Justin Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, has claimed that Blake Lively attempted to ‘coerce’ Taylor Swift into releasing a public statement backing her in the legal battle.
According to Freedman, Lively’s lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, ‘demanded’ that Swift release a statement of support for Ms Lively while suggesting that, if she refused, ‘private text messages of a personal nature in Ms Lively’s possession would be released’.
Per a letter given to the judge, obtained by Daily Mail, it states that subpoenaing Taylor Swift would 'evidence an attempt to intimidate and coerce a percipient witness in this litigation'.
It is those communications that [Baldoni's team] seeks to obtain by way of subpoena, as they would evidence an attempt to intimidate and coerce a percipient witness in this litigation.
Blake Lively’s lawyer claims accusations are ‘categorically false’
Following Bryan Freedman’s accusations, Blake Lively’s lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, has hit back and said that Freedman’s claims are ‘categorically false’.
As a result, Lively’s legal team has also filed a letter to the judge, asking to strike Freedman’s letter from the records, as reported by Today. Per Gottlieb’s letter, the accusations are ‘anonymously sourced’ and ‘baseless’, and lack evidence.
Per Today, the letter states:
It should be unnecessary to respond to anonymously sourced, baseless allegations recklessly levelled without any supporting evidence. It is worth stating for the record, however, that each of the allegations in the Freedman Letter is unequivocally and demonstrably false.
Taylor Swift’s legal team addresses the subpoena
A spokesperson for Taylor Swift addressed the fact that she was subpoenaed in the legal matter between Lively and Baldoni. They stated that the singer had no connections to the film, having ‘never set foot on the set of this movie’ and was ‘not involved in any casting or creative decisions’.
Swift’s only ‘involvement’ was the use of her song My Tears Ricochet, but she ‘did not score the film’.
The spokesperson said, as per Today:
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, she did not even see It Ends With Us until weeks after its public release, and was travelling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history.
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Sources used:
Daily Mail: ‘Blake Lively 'threatened' to expose Taylor Swift's private texts unless she publicly sided with her in Justin Baldoni feud’
Today: ‘Justin Baldoni’s lawyer makes new allegations regarding Blake Lively and Taylor Swift’
