Blake Lively loses bid to hide private texts with Taylor Swift in Justin Baldoni legal case
It's a cruel summer.
Justin Baldoni can officially gain access to Blake Lively and Taylor Swift's private messages that pertain to 'It Ends With Us,' US District Judge Lewis Liman ruled on Wednesday.
In court documents obtained by The Post, Judge Liman denied Lively's motion for a protective order to hide her messages with Swift, 35, from Baldoni, 41, amidst their ongoing legal battle.
11 Taylor Swift and Blake Lively at the 2024 Super Bowl.
Getty Images
11 Justin Baldoni attends Variety Faith And Spirituality In Entertainment Honors in Beverly Hills in Dec. 2024.
Variety via Getty Images
The ruling stated that since Lively, 37, 'has represented that Swift had knowledge of complaints or discussions about the working environment on the film,' the requests for her messages with the 'Style' singer 'are reasonably tailored to discover information that would prove or disprove Lively's harassment and retaliation claims.'
But Judge Liman did note that the messages must be related to the 2024 film or Lively and Baldoni's legal case.
11 Blake Lively, Taylor Swift seen in SoHo in September 2023.
GC Images
He also stated that the parties' pre-exesting protective order will cover the messages to prevent them from leaking to the press.
According to the ruling, Lively's lawyers made a proposal to Baldoni's team in which she would hand over all documents related to the case, except her messages with Swift, in return that Baldoni produced 'all video footage related to the film and full, unredacted versions of communication' listed in Baldoni's complaint.
Baldoni's team ultimately declined Lively's bargain.
11 Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in 'It Ends With Us.'
AP
Lively's spokesperson told The Post in a statement: 'The Court outright denied the Wayfarer Parties' motion to compel documents from Ms. Lively, who has produced far more documents in this case than the Wayfarer Parties combined. Further, the Court's protective order ruling rests on the Wayfarer Parties' admission that they received nothing from Taylor Swift, which is exactly the opposite of what their 'insider' claimed two weeks ago.'
11 Blake Lively at the 'Another Simple Favor' screening in New York on April 27.
WireImage
'As for the rest, Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer parties demanded access to Taylor Swift's private communications—despite having already subpoenaed and then withdrawn that subpoena,' the statement continued. 'Baldoni's desire to drag Taylor Swift into this has been constant dating back to August 2024, when the crisis PR firm led by Melissa Nathan included her in their 'Scenario Planning' document, referred to her as a bully, and called for a strategy to influence the 'TS fanbase.' We will continue to call out Baldoni's relentless efforts to exploit Ms Swift's popularity, which from day one has been nothing more than a distraction from the serious sexual harassment and retaliation accusations he and the Wayfarer parties are facing.'
11 Justin Baldoni at the 'It Ends With Us' premiere in New York in Aug. 2024.
Adela Loconte/Shutterstock
The Post has reached out to Baldoni's attorney and Swift's rep for comment.
In May, Swift was subpoenaed as a witness by Baldoni's legal team in the never-ending 'It Ends With Us' legal nightmare.
But in a shocking move by Baldoni's legal team, they dropped the subpoena on May 22 after a representative for Swift denied she had any involvement in the drama.
11 Blake Lively and Taylor Swift seen in New York City in Dec. 2023.
GC Images
'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 traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history,' the rep told The Post in response to the original subpoena.
The 'Lover' singer was mentioned in Baldoni's $400 million countersuit against the actress and her husband Ryan Reynolds, in which Baldoni accused Lively of calling Swift and Reynolds, 48, her 'dragons' and referring to herself as Khaleesi from 'Game of Thrones' in an alleged text conversation.
11 Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Taylor Swift.
Hugh Jackman/Instagram
Baldoni further alleged that Swift was present for a pivotal meeting he had with Lively at her and Reynolds' NYC penthouse about rewriting the infamous 'It Ends With Us' rooftop scene.
Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, later issued a letter to Judge Liman, claiming he was told by an anonymous source that Lively's lead lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, allegedly threatened to release Swift's text messages if the 'You Need to Calm Down' hitmaker didn't publicly support Blake.
11 Justin Baldoni at an event in Los Angeles in December 2024.
Variety via Getty Images
Gottlieb denied the allegations — and the judge granted Lively's motion to strike the letter, calling Freedman's filing 'improper' and 'irrelevant' in the order obtained by The Post.
Lively and Swift's friendship has allegedly suffered due to the legal case.
'Even though Taylor has totally cut ties with her, Blake hasn't with Taylor,' a source recently told the Daily Mail, claiming that Lively has been 'ignoring' her former bestie, who is the godmother of Lively and Reynolds' three daughters.
11 Taylor Swift and Blake Lively at the 2024 Super Bowl.
Getty Images
The source further claimed that Swift is icing out Lively because she feels 'betrayed' and 'exploited' by the 'Gossip Girl' alum.
The legal battle began when Lively sued Baldoni in December 2024, claiming he sexually harassed her while filming 'It Ends With Us.' She also accused him of spearheading a smear campaign against her and of an intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
11 Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively filming 'It Ends With Us' in New Jersey in Jan. 2024.
Christopher Peterson / SplashNews.com
Baldoni, who denied the allegations, countersued Lively and Reynolds in January, alleging extortion and defamation.
But the $400 million lawsuit was dismissed by Judge Liman earlier this month, as was Baldoni's $250 million defamation lawsuit against the New York Times.
The legal case is still scheduled to go to trial in March 2026.
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