Blake Lively’s lawyer denied a claim made by Justin Baldoni’s team that Lively allegedly pressured Taylor Swift to publicly support her
“We unequivocally deny all of these so-called allegations, which are cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources,” said attorney Mike Gottlieb
Baldoni’s lawyer said a “source who is highly likely to have reliable information” tipped them off about the allegation
Blake Lively’s attorney is speaking out to deny a bombshell claim made by Justin Baldoni’s lawyer about the actress’s friendship with Taylor Swift.
In a letter to the judge on Wednesday, May 14, Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni, explained why they believe their subpoena to Venable, the law firm representing Swift, is relevant in the case.
Freedman claimed that a “source who is highly likely to have reliable information” alleged to them that there is evidence of Lively’s lawyers pressuring Swift’s lawyers to “release a statement of support” for the actress amid the Baldoni legal saga. If they refused, according to Freedman’s claim, Lively was willing to leak their text messages in what he called “extortionate threats.”
There is no evidence of the claims yet, but Freedman said their subpoena seeks to obtain these communications to use in their case against Lively.
However, Mike Gottlieb, an attorney for Lively, says in a May 14 statement to PEOPLE: “This is categorically false.”
“We unequivocally deny all of these so-called allegations, which are cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources, and completely untethered from reality,” adds Gottlieb.
“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,” he says. “We will imminently file motions with the court to hold these attorneys accountable for their misconduct here.”
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Blake Lively and Taylor Swift on Dec. 13, 2023
Lively, 37, sued her It Ends With Us costar and director Baldoni, 41, in December 2024, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation. He denied those claims, filing a $400 million countersuit of his own, accusing Lively and Ryan Reynolds of defamation and extortion.
After it was revealed that Swift, 35, had been issued a subpoena in the ongoing legal battle, the singer’s spokesperson made a statement distancing Swift from It Ends With Us and the legal drama.
“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,” said her rep.
James Devaney/GC Images; Mat Hayward/WireImage
Justin Baldoni; Blake Lively
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“The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, ‘My Tears Ricochet,’ ” her rep continued. “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.”
Shortly after, Lively’s spokesperson spoke out about the subpoena in a statement, claiming Baldoni’s legal team is turning the case into “entertainment for the tabloids.”
“This is a very serious legal matter, not Barnum & Bailey’s Circus. The defendants continue to publicly intimidate, bully, shame and attack women’s rights and reputations,” said Lively’s spokesperson.
Some of Lively’s alleged texts to Baldoni have already been released as exhibits in their separate complaints, including one in which Lively seemed to refer to Swift and Reynolds, 48, as her “dragons” who stand up for her.
Freedman said in a previous statement that Lively “was the one who brought her high-profile friends into this situation without concern for their own personal or public backlash. As the truth shows, she used her ‘dragons’ to manipulate Justin at every turn.”
When she was a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers on May 1 to promote Another Simple Favor, Lively at one point acknowledged that she couldn’t speak much about the case but said she has had an “intense year” that has “been full of the highest highs and the lowest lows of my life.”
The trial, at which Lively and Baldoni are both expected to take the stand and testify, is currently scheduled for March 2026.
Read the original article on People
