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Blake Lively and Taylor Swift’s friendship is reportedly taking a backseat as the actress continues with her legal battle against Justin Baldoni.
Sources told People Swift and Lively’s friendship “has halted” as the world-famous musician faces a possible subpoena from Baldoni’s legal team.
“Their friendship has halted. Taylor wants no part in this drama,” a source told the outlet.
JUSTIN BALDONI CLAIMS BLAKE LIVELY THREATENED TAYLOR SWIFT IN ESCALATING ‘IT ENDS WITH US’ LEGAL BATTLE
Taylor Swift and Blake Lively’s friendship has reportedly “halted” as Lively continues her legal battle with Justin Baldoni. (Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Parkwood; Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Sony Pictures)
A second source told the outlet Swift and Lively are “taking some space,” but clarified that they are “not no longer friends.”
Swift was served a subpoena by Baldoni’s team May 8. A source told People at the time that the legal battle has “fractured” the “fragile peace” in their friendship. Swift is the godmother of Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ four children.
Gigi Hadid, another woman in Lively and Swift’s close friend circle, has reportedly taken Swift’s side through the legal mess.
“Gigi feels terrible that her close friend is being pulled into the legal drama,” a source told People.
Blake Lively, Gigi Hadid and Taylor Swift have been close friends for years. (Taylor Swift/Instagram)
Another source added, “Gigi is closer to Taylor and has definitely taken her side in this whole drama. Gigi doesn’t want to get involved in this whole ordeal, but she is closer to Taylor and has distanced herself from Blake, although she still considers her a friend.”
Representatives for Lively and Swift did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Earlier this week, Baldoni’s team filed a document claiming the “It Ends With Us” actress threatened Swift if she didn’t publicly support Lively during Lively’s legal battle against her co-star, People reported.
Justin Baldoni’s team filed a document claiming Blake Lively threatened Taylor Swift amid the legal battle. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Vital Voices Global Partnership)
Lively’s lawyer, Mike Gottlieb, shared a statement with Fox News Digital calling Baldoni’s claim “categorically false.”
“We unequivocally deny all of these so-called allegations, which are cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources and completely untethered from reality. This is what we have come to expect from the Wayfarer parties’ lawyers, who appear to love nothing more than shooting first, without any evidence, and with no care for the people they are harming in the process,” Gottlieb said.
JUSTIN BALDONI SUES BLAKE LIVELY, RYAN REYNOLDS FOR $400M AFTER ACTRESS ACCUSED HIM OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT
“We will imminently file motions with the court to hold these attorneys accountable for their misconduct here.”
Blake Lively starred as Lily Bloom in “It Ends With Us,” directed by Justin Baldoni. (Gotham)
Gottlieb stuck to his word and filed a motion to get Baldoni’s letter dismissed. According to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital, the motion was granted.
A spokesperson for Lively told Fox News Digital, “It took the court less than 24 hours to see through [Baldoni’s lawyer] Mr. [Bryan] Freedman’s irrelevant, improper and inflammatory accusations, strike them, remove them from the court and warn Mr. Freedman that further misconduct may be met with sanctions.”
Baldoni’s team wrote in the letter filed May 14 that it believes subpoenaing Swift is necessary for this case.
“The Lively Defendants’ insistence that the Subpoena seeks irrelevant information is wrong,” Freedman wrote.
Blake Lively’s team filed a motion to get Baldoni’s letter dismissed. The motion was granted. (Charly Triballeau)
Freedman wrote that he received a tip from an anonymous “source who is highly likely to have reliable information.” Freedman said the source shared that Lively asked Swift to delete specific text messages.
Freedman also alleged that Lively’s lawyers contacted Swift’s legal team “and demanded that Ms. Swift release a statement of support for Ms. Lively.” He also said they were “intimating that if Ms. Swift refused to do so, private text messages of a personal nature in Ms. Lively’s possession would be released.”
A representative for Baldoni did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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On May 9, Swift was subpoenaed as a witness in the Lively-Baldoni legal battle.
Taylor Swift was subpoenaed in the Lively-Baldoni legal battle May 9. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Shortly after the news became public, a spokesperson for Swift denied the pop star had any connection to the 2024 film aside from the licensing of her song “My Tears Ricochet,” which was featured in the movie’s trailer and used in one scene.
“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,” Swift’s representative previously told Fox News Digital.
“The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, ‘My Tears Ricochet,'” the spokesperson added. “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.”
A spokesperson for Taylor Swift made it clear the pop star did not have any casting or creative control in “It Ends With Us.” (Getty Images)
Lively and Baldoni starred together in the romance drama “It Ends with Us,” which was based on Colleen Hoover’s 2016 book and premiered in August 2024. After a press tour rife with rumors of behind-the-scenes issues between the two, Baldoni and Lively filed lawsuits against each other.
In January, Baldoni accused Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, of civil extortion, defamation and more in a $400 million lawsuit, which mentioned Swift.
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The “Jane the Virgin” star’s lawsuit followed Lively’s December lawsuit accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment while filming “It Ends With Us.” However, Baldoni insisted Lively “falsely” accused him in an attempt to repair her reputation from the fallout from the movie’s press tour after she allegedly took control of the film.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal battle is headed to court in March 2026. (Getty Images)
In an attempt to prove his claims that Lively had taken control of the movie’s production, Baldoni’s legal team suggested the actress had used her friendship with the globally famous Swift to threaten him.
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While working on the film, Lively insisted on rewriting the infamous rooftop scene. Baldoni had been hesitant about the idea, but he told the actress he would “take a look at what she put together,” according to the complaint.
Both sides have given no indication they intend to settle out of court. The legal conflict is scheduled to go to trial in New York in March 2026.
