Blake Lively and Taylor Swift’s friendship has been dragged into the spotlight as the drama involving Justin Baldoni takes yet another legal turn.
Justin's lawyers have accused Blake of pressuring her long-time bestie to publicly support her and threatening to release her private texts if she refused to do so.
“This drama just keeps getting messier,” the internet said, describing the accusations as “one way to ruin a friendship.”
Highlights
- Blake Lively and Taylor Swift’s friendship has been dragged into the spotlight.
- Justin Baldoni's lawyers claimed the actress wanted Taylor to delete certain text messages.
- Blake's legal team allegedly made a threat against Taylor as well.
- “This drama just keeps getting messier,” the internet said.
Blake Lively and Taylor Swift’s friendship has been dragged into the courtroom chaos with Justin Baldoni
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Justin’s lawyers wrote a letter to the judge on Wednesday, May 14, including claims about Taylor that they received from a “source who is highly likely to have reliable information.”
The source alleged that Blake asked the godmother of her four children to delete certain text messages.
The letter also alleged that Blake’s lead counsel, Michael Gottlieb of Willkie Farr, demanded a public statement of support to be issued from the Love Story singer.
Justin’s lawyers submitted a letter this week, accusing Blake’s attorney of asking for a public statement of support from Taylor
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Blake’s attorney was accused of reaching out to Venable—the law firm representing Taylor—and threatening to release private texts that the singer exchanged with Blake during their years-long friendship.
He “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.”
Taylor’s representative then “addressed these inappropriate and apparently extortionate threats in at least one written communication transmitted to Mr. Gottlieb,” Justin’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, wrote in the letter filed on May 14.
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Blake’s lawyers responded to the bombshell claims included by Bryan in the document.
“That letter … falsely accuses Ms. Lively, and her counsel, of engaging in ‘witness tampering and evidence spoliation’ based on an undisclosed anonymous source,” Lively's legal team said.
“...Each of the allegations in the Freedman Letter is unequivocally and demonstrably false,” the statement added.
They accused Justin’s lawyer of trying to “launder scandalous and defamatory allegations about Ms. Lively.”
Blake’s legal team accused Justin’s side of making “scandalous and defamatory allegations” about the Gossip Girl alum
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Attorney Mike said his team “unequivocally” denied the allegations, which are “cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources, and completely untethered from reality.”
He claimed Justin's lawyers “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 was recently subpoenaed as a witness in Blake and Justin’s ongoing legal battle
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The latest allegations came after the Grammy-winning singer was subpoenaed as a witness in Blake and Justin’s ongoing legal battle over behind-the-scenes conflict during the making of their film— adapted from Colleen Hoover’s hit novel.
When there was pushback from Blake’s team about Taylor being served the subpoena, Bryan wrote the letter to the judge and said the subpoena was necessary to gain evidence of “an attempt to intimidate and coerce a percipient witness in this litigation.”
Lawyer Bryan previously revealed that Hugh Jackman could also be subpoenaed as part of the legal proceedings.
The Bad Blood singer was apparently “very upset” and felt “exploited” by Blake, a source previously claimed to the Daily Mail
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An official statement was released on Taylor’s behalf, in which a spokesperson said the singer “never set foot on the set of this movie” and wasn’t involved “in any casting or creative decisions.”
“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 traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history,” the spokesperson said after the subpoena.
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Permitting the use of her song My Tears Ricochet was the only connection Taylor had to the film, the representative said.
“Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, 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,” the statement continued.
The Grammy-winning singer met Justin last year during a meeting held in Blake and Ryan Reynolds’ apartment
Taylor’s boyfriend Travis Kelce even unfollowed the Deadpool actor on Instagram amid the rumored fallout.
But Ryan did not follow suit, and continues to follow the Kansas City Chiefs tight end.
“Nothing in the world of celebrity social media is done without knowledge that many eyes will see and report on it. He was likely ‘advised’ to stop following him,” one social media user speculated online.
The pop star's boyfriend Travis Kelce unfollowed Ryan Reynolds on Instagram
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Amid the lawsuit drama, it was revealed in court documents that Blake and her husband Ryan Reynolds had a meeting in their apartment with Justin after tensions emerged on the It Ends With Us set.
Taylor was in the apartment at the time and had no idea that Justin, the movie’s director and lead, was meeting Blake and Ryan, a source previously told TMZ.
“Taylor really wishes Blake hadn’t dragged her into this whole situation,” a source claimed
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When they were introduced to each other, the Fortnight singer told Justin about how excited she was to see It Ends With Us because he was her friend’s boss.
According to the source, Taylor believed that the Another Simple Favor actress timed the meeting so that the singer would arrive before Justin left.
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An insider also told Page Six in February that “Taylor really wishes Blake hadn’t dragged her into this whole situation.”
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Netizens had plenty to say after the latest claims about Blake’s legal team threatening Taylor to issue a public statement and delete text messages.
“Blake’s going down,” one said, while another wrote, “I Hope Taylor makes a new album about Blake!”
“Y'all leave Tay Tay alone” one fan wrote online
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Questioning Justin’s lawyers, one asked, “Why are his lawyers continuously dropping these things like bombs when the judge already told his team to stop? Everytime his team does it, it simply proves her retaliation lawsuit.”
“Blake, you’d k*ll your entire career if you ever throw Taylor Swift under the bus. Literally, no one will ever want to know you again,” said another.
“So much mean girl energy from Blake and Ryan,” one wrote online
