Actress Blake Lively’s team have spoken out amid her ongoing legal battle with It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni after Taylor Swift was swept up into their drama
Blake Lively has something to celebrate as her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni has made a huge decision in their ongoing legal battle. The legal debate kicked off following Blake and Justin’s time working together on the film, that was released last summer.
She initially launched a sexual harassment lawsuit against Justin – who has strongly refuted the claims. However, he hit back with a $400 million defamation claim against her, her publicist and husband Ryan Reynolds, all of whom have dismissed the accusations.
Additionally, Justin has launched a $250 million libel case against the New York Times over their coverage of Blake’s allegations. Earlier this month, Blake’s pal Taylor Swift was dragged into the scandal when she was officially subpoenaed to appear as a witness.
The pop star was delivered a legal notice by Justin’s lawyer Bryan Freedman – a decision which had been slammed by her team as a tactic to create clickbait.
Now, in a move that is set to please Blake and Taylor, Justin is no longer calling on the Bad Blood hitmaker to appear as a witness. Bryan Freedman had claimed Blake had called on “her high-profile friends” including Taylor to “manipulate Justin at every turn.”
Taylor, who is close friends with Blake, licensed her hit song My Tears Ricochet to be used in the film but was not involved in the making of It Ends With Us, said her reps.
They slammed the subpoena, claiming it was “designed to use Taylor Swift ’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.”
Justin’s legal team have dropped the subpoena, as Blake’s spokesperson said they are “pleased” with the decision.
“We supported the efforts of Taylor’s team to quash these inappropriate subpoenas directed to her counsel, and we will continue to stand up for any third party who is unjustly harassed or threatened in the process,” they told People.
“The Baldoni and Wayfarer team have tried to put Taylor Swift, a woman who has been an inspiration for tens of millions across the globe, at the center of this case since day one,” they claimed.
They alleged that “exploiting Taylor Swift’s celebrity was the original plan in [PR professional] Melissa Nathan’s scenario planning document, and it continues to this day.”
“Faced with having to justify themselves in federal court, they folded. At some point they will run out of distractions from the actual claims of sexual harassment and retaliation they are facing,” they said.
At the time, a representative for the superstar said: “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.”
They continued to Daily Mail: “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 Mirror has contacted Justin’s representative for comment.
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