It Ends With Us star Blake Lively has issued a statement through her representatives as she accused her co-star Justin Baldoni of creating a ‘circus’ around their legal drama
Blake Lively has slammed Justin Baldoni as she accused him of turning their legal drama into “entertainment for the tabloids”. It comes after the actress’ pal Taylor Swift was dragged into the scandal when she was officially subpoenaed to appear as a witness.
The legal debate kicked off following Blake and Justin’s time working together on film It Ends With Us. 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.
Now, pop star Taylor has been dragged in as Justin’s legal team subpoenaed her. Taylor was delivered a legal notice on Friday by Justin’s lawyer Bryan Freedman – a move which has been slammed by her team as a tactic to create clickbait.
In response, Blake’s representative issued a statement directed at Justin and his Wayfarer Studios partner Steve Sarowitz. She claimed their team continues “to turn a case of sexual harassment and retaliation into entertainment for the tabloids,” according to People.
The statement added: “Going as far as suggesting that they sell tickets to a concert venue – Madison Square Garden – to witness Ms. Lively’s deposition, to subpoenaing Taylor Swift, a woman who has given a voice to millions all over the world.”
They added: “This is a very serious legal matter, not Barnum & Bailey’s Circus.”
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, say her reps.
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 then gave a damning verdict on why they believed Justin’s team had really subpoenaed Taylor dragging her into the legal row.
Her rep continued to DailyMail.com : “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 development comes after Blake’s attorney Mike Gottlieb confirmed that she is expected to “be a witness at her trial.” He told People: “The ultimate moment for a plaintiff’s story to be told is at trial. We expect that to be the case here. Of course she’s going to testify.”
Gottlieb also addressed rumours that stars such as Hugh Jackman may also be subpoenaed in the case. He said: “It’s completely unclear what claims or defences in the case any of these celebrities… have any relevance to at all.
“This is a case about what happened to Blake Lively when she raised claims of sexual harassment on the set. It’s not a case about how songs were chosen for the movie. It’s not a case about fictional Marvel characters in Deadpool movies.”
The Mirror has contacted Justin’s representative for comment.
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