Justin Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, is alleging that Blake Lively “demanded” Taylor Swift release a statement supporting her in the latest development involving the legal battle between the two “It Ends With Us” stars.
Following Swift’s spokesperson addressing the pop star reportedly being subpoenaed in Lively and Baldoni’s legal back-and-forth, Freedman filed a letter with Judge Lewis J. Liman — who is presiding over the trial set for March 9, 2026, in New York.
In the May 14 letter, Freedman wrote that the purpose of the subpoena is to access discovery regarding “witness tampering and evidence spoliation.”
He said that the counsel for Wayfarer Parties, which includes Baldoni, received “information from a source who is highly likely to have reliable information” alleging that Lively asked Swift to delete their text messages. Freedman then claimed that Michael Gottlieb, Lively’s lawyer, contacted Swift’s attorney and “demanded that Ms. Swift release a statement of support for Ms. Lively, intimating that, if Ms. Swift refused to do so, private text messages of a personal nature in Ms. Lively’s possession would be released.”
Freedman further described the alleged demands as “inappropriate and apparently extortionate threats” and said a representative for Swift responded to them in “at least one written communication” sent to Gottlieb.
“It is those communications that the Wayfarer Parties seek to obtain by way of subpoena, as they would evidence an attempt to intimidate and coerce a percipient witness in this litigation,” Baldoni’s lawyer continued.
TODAY.com obtained a statement from Gottlieb regarding Freedman’s letter to the judge, in which he called the accusations “categorically false.”
Lively’s legal team filed a letter with Judge Liman, too, asking to strike Freedman’s letter from the docket.
“It should be unnecessary to respond to anonymously sourced, baseless, allegations recklessly leveled without any supporting evidence. It is worth stating for the record, however, that each of the allegations in the Freedman Letter is unequivocally and demonstrably false. As a legal matter, the Freedman Letter is improper. It does not seek any form of relief, is irrelevant to any motion currently pending before the Court, and serves no legitimate purpose. It is not useful to the Court in any respect,” Lively’s lawyers wrote.
They also said that Freedman’s letter appeared intended to “launder scandalous and defamatory allegations about Ms. Lively and opposing counsel into the press.”
TODAY.com has reached out to Swift’s rep for a comment.
Swift’s spokesperson previously issued a statement regarding the subpoena, asserting that the musician has no connection to the movie adaptation besides her song “My Tears Ricochet” being featured on the soundtrack. Her rep said that the witness summons was a way to generate “tabloid clickbait.”
“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,” the statement said.
Her rep continued, “The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, ‘My Tears Ricochet.’ 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.”
Lively and Baldoni’s legal case began on Dec. 20 when Lively filed an 80-page sexual harassment complaint alleging that Baldoni created a hostile workplace environment on the set of “It Ends With Us” and that he later launched a smear campaign to “destroy” her reputation. She also alleged that he crossed the line while they filmed intimate scenes and that he harassed her on set.
Freedman reacted to the accusations in a statement to TODAY.com at the time, calling them “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious.”
Lively then filed a federal lawsuit against Baldoni, his production company, Wayfarer Studios, producer Jamey Heath, crisis communications representative Melissa Nathan and publicist Jennifer Abel on Dec. 31. Her attorney alleged there was a “retaliatory campaign Wayfarer launched against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns.”
Following an article about Lively’s accusations, Baldoni sued The New York Times for libel. He also filed a lawsuit against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, Lively’s rep Leslie Sloane and Sloane’s PR firm on Jan. 16, accusing them of defamation and disregarding contractual claims.
Swift became linked to the case when Baldoni filed his suit, which included alleged text messages exchanged between him and Lively. In the documents, a “Taylor” is referenced and described as a “megacelebrity friend.”
Baldoni’s team confirmed to NBC News at the time that the “Taylor” in the suit was the pop singer, who has been friends with Lively for years.
According to NBC News, one alleged text from Lively read, “If you ever get around to watching Game of Thrones, you’ll appreciate that I’m Khaleesi, and like her, I happen to have a few dragons. For better or worse, but usually better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for. So really we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. You will too, I can promise you.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
