a day ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Judge shakes off Blake Lively's motion to keep texts with Taylor Swift confidential
Some of Blake Lively's text messages with friend Taylor Swift could play in court, in a recent development of the actor's winding legal battle against her 'It Ends With Us' co-star Justin Baldoni.
U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman on Wednesday filed an order denying the 'Gossip Girl' alumna's request to keep her messages with Swift out of litigation, according to legal documents reviewed by The Times. 'Given that Lively has represented that Swift had knowledge of complaints or discussions about the working environment on the film, among other issues, the requests for messages with Swift regarding the film and this action are reasonably tailored to discover information that would prove or disprove Lively's harassment and retaliation claims,' reads the order.
Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios filed a request for production connected to the Lively-Swift texts in February, asking for ''all documents and communications related to or reflecting Lively's communications with Taylor Swift' about their their 2024 romantic drama and subsequent legal proceedings.
The 'It Ends With Us' co-stars have engaged in a legal back-and-forth for months after Lively accused director Baldoni of sexual harassment on the set of the film and accused his team of orchestrating a smear campaign against her in December. The allegations first surfaced in a report from the New York Times. She formally sued 'Jane the Virgin' alumnus Baldoni in federal court on Dec. 31. Baldoni and nine other plaintiffs — including his crisis PR team and executives at Wayfarer Studios — hit back that same day with a $400 million countersuit against Lively and her husband, 'Deadpool' star Ryan Reynolds, and a separate defamation complaint against the New York Times.
Liman dismissed Baldoni's complaints, which failed to meet legal standards, earlier this month. The judge said in his Wednesday order that 'Lively's motion is rooted in the broader concern that the Wayfarer Parties are using demands for communications with Swift not 'to obtain information relevant to claims and defenses in court, but to prop up a public relations narrative outside of court.''
Wednesday's order also denied Baldoni's cross-motion to compel Lively to produce documents connected to the production.
Baldoni's team subpoenaed Swift earlier this year, but eventually withdrew it after the singer and her legal reps dismissed it as an 'unwarranted fishing expedition,' according to Variety.
In a statement shared with multiple outlets, a representative for Lively reacted to this week's order, claiming 'Baldoni's desire to drag Taylor Swift into this has been constant dating back to August 2024' and is an effort to influence the singer's fan base. In the past, the devoted league of Swift supporters known as Swifites have banded together to criticize the singer's high-profile exes and in recent years, rallied against Ticketmaster over allegations of fraud, price-fixing and antitrust violations.
'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,' the spokesperson added, according to People.
Representatives for Swift and Baldoni did not immediately respond to The Times' request for comment.
