A federal judge rules that Blake Lively must release her private messages with longtime friend Taylor Swift as part of the ongoing legal case involving director and co-star Justin Baldoni.
The legal drama behind the scenes of It Ends With Us continues to intensify. On June 18, 2025, U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman ruled that Blake Lively must turn over relevant text messages exchanged with Taylor Swift to Justin Baldoni’s legal team as part of the ongoing harassment and retaliation lawsuit.
📱 Why Taylor Swift’s Name Is Now in the Legal Crossfire
In the ruling obtained by Entertainment Weekly, Judge Liman wrote that Lively herself identified Swift as someone who may have knowledge about the on-set environment, making their conversations potentially relevant to the legal claims. The request, according to the judge, is “reasonably tailored to discover information” that could confirm or refute the actress’s allegations.
“This concern [about PR misuse] does not justify denying the Wayfarer Parties relevant discovery,” the judge stated, in reference to Lively’s team’s argument that Baldoni’s side is pursuing Swift’s messages to influence public perception rather than gather legal evidence.
Although Baldoni’s legal team previously subpoenaed Swift directly, that request was later withdrawn. However, the push for Lively’s communications with the pop icon remains central to the discovery process.
⚖️ The Background: Lively vs. Baldoni
Blake Lively first filed a formal complaint against Justin Baldoni on December 20, 2024, accusing him of sexual harassment and retaliation during the production of It Ends With Us. The following day, a New York Times exposé alleged Baldoni’s PR team had attempted to discredit Lively as part of a coordinated smear campaign.
Lively later sued Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios, and his PR firm, escalating the dispute into a full-blown legal and media war. In response, Baldoni filed a countersuit, and even launched a website in February 2025 publicly detailing his version of events.
🔒 Lively’s Team Pushes Back
Despite the court’s ruling on Swift’s texts, Lively’s legal team emphasized that the court also denied Baldoni’s broader motion to compel additional documents, noting that Lively has already provided more discovery than Baldoni’s team.
In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, a spokesperson for Lively said:
“The court denied the Wayfarer Parties’ motion to compel documents from Ms. Lively, who has produced far more documents than the Wayfarer Parties combined.”
The statement also condemned Baldoni’s ongoing attempts to involve Swift:
“Baldoni’s desire to drag Taylor Swift into this dates back to August 2024, when his crisis PR team included her in a strategy memo referring to her as a bully and targeting the TS fanbase… This is a clear attempt to exploit Swift’s popularity to distract from the serious allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation.”
🎬 A Star-Studded Courtroom Showdown
With both legal teams trading accusations and high-profile names like Ryan Reynolds (who joked about the case on SNL earlier this year) and Taylor Swift being pulled into the spotlight, the case continues to capture intense media and fan attention.
Stay tuned as this high-profile legal battle — and its ripple effects in Hollywood — continues to unfold.
