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Taylor Swift has been subpoenaed as a witness in the upcoming trial for Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni over alleged harassment on the It Ends With Us set.
Swift — who is a longtime friend of Lively — was first mentioned in alleged text messages between the Gossip Girl alum and Baldoni that he used for his $400 million defamation lawsuit against the actress, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist Leslie Sloane. According to the suit and text message exchange, Baldoni was “summoned” to meet with Swift and Reynolds in Manhattan in what he claimed to be an attempt to intimidate him to alter the script to Lively's liking. During the NYC meeting, Baldoni claims that a popstar, later to be revealed as Swift entered the home and “began praising Lively’s script. Baldoni understood the subtext: he needed to comply with Lively’s direction for the script,” according to the complaint per PEOPLE.
After the meeting, Baldoni allegedly texted Lively about the script: “I really love what you did. It really does help a lot. Makes it so much more fun and interesting. (And I would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor),” Baldoni wrote with a wink emoji. “You really are a talent across the board. Really excited and grateful to do this together.”
Baldoni is the director of the It Ends With Us film, based on Colleen Hoover's best-selling novel of the same name, and also stars as the leading male character, Ryle Kincaid. Lively played Lily Bloom, the main character of the film.
Lively allegedly responded to Baldoni comparing herself to the “Games of Thrones” character, Khaleesi: “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 for 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.”
Lively is suing Baldoni for allegedly sexually harassing her on set and allegedly planned a smear campaign to tarnish her reputation. Baldoni is suing Lively, Reynolds, and Sloane for allegedly trying to defame him.
Taylor Swift's Rep Breaks Silence On Subpoena
Following the subpoena news, Swift's rep reacted claiming that the 14-time Grammy-winning singer did not have involvement in the project outside of music licensing.
“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,” the spokesperson told CNN on Friday (May 9).
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“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,” the spokesperson added.
Baldoni has not reacted to the subpoena news at the time of this writing but a rep for Lively said Baldoni and his legal team “continue to turn a case of sexual harassment and retaliation into entertainment for the tabloids.”
“This is a very serious legal matter, not Barnum & Bailey’s Circus,” Lively's spokesperson added. “The defendants continue to publicly intimidate, bully, shame and attack women’s rights and reputations.”
The subpoena of Swift follows reports of the possibility that she would be called as a witness in the legal case alongside Hugh Jackman who is a friend of Reynolds.
“Anyone that had any knowledge of this situation will be subpoenaed, no matter of their celebrity status,” a source told PEOPLE of the possibility of Swift being subpoenaed last month.
It's unclear if Jackman is also subpoenaed.
