Justin Baldoni’s attorneys have withdrawn a subpoena that was issued to Taylor Swift amid the It Ends With Us actor’s ongoing authorized battle with co-star Blake Lively.
Swift, who’s shut mates with Lively, had been talked about in reference to the continuing authorized case between the co-stars when textual content exchanges had been revealed that included her identify in Baldoni’s US$400-million defamation countersuit in opposition to Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds in January.
Lawyers for Swift and Lively beforehand filed motions to revoke the subpoena, issued earlier this month.
Lively’s spokesperson beforehand stated that Baldoni had tried to subpoena the pop star as a witness within the case “designed” to make use of Swift’s “name to draw public interest.”
“We are pleased that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties have withdrawn their harassing subpoenas to Taylor Swift and her law firm,” the spokesperson stated in an announcement to Variety on May 22.
“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.”
“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,” Lively’s spokesperson added.
“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,” the assertion concluded.
Since the authorized battle started, Baldoni’s authorized staff has made textual content messages from Lively and Reynolds public on a web site, titled The Lawsuit Info, created to assist defend him.
On the web site, printed in early February, Baldoni, 41, additionally shared an amended criticism in his case in opposition to Lively, Reynolds, Lively’s PR agency and the New York Times, in addition to a 168-page doc, known as “Timeline of relevant events,” associated to the case and the manufacturing of the movie.
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The timeline contains emails and textual content messages that had been allegedly despatched main as much as and through the film’s filming.
Text messages between Lively and Baldoni, the place she seemingly alludes to Swift as “one of her dragons,” had been launched in February. Swift and Lively have been very shut mates since 2015 and the pop star is the godmother of Lively’s youngsters.
According to Variety, the subpoenas to Swift and her authorized staff didn’t seem like related to these explicit textual content messages.
Bryan Freedman, Baldoni’s lawyer, stated he was in search of proof that Lively’s lawyer had threatened to launch textual content messages between Lively and Swift except Swift issued an announcement of help for the Gossip Girl actor, in response to a court docket submitting considered by the outlet. (Global News has not independently considered the doc.)
Freedman alleged that he obtained a voicemail on Feb. 14 from “a person very closely linked to Taylor Swift.” He declined to establish the particular person however claimed that Lively’s lawyer had demanded that the 35-year-old singer submit an announcement in help of Lively on social media and warned that he may launch 10 years of textual content messages between the pair.
Freedman additionally claimed that Swift’s attorneys accused Lively’s attorneys of extortion.
The unidentified particular person additionally claimed that Lively had informed Swift to delete their textual content messages from a number of months earlier, in response to Freedman.
Freedman stated the subpoena was to acquire the allegedly extortionate dialog in a letter to Lively’s lawyer.
Lively’s attorneys known as Freedman’s allegations “unequivocally and demonstrably false.”
Swift’s authorized staff beforehand stated that if Swift was subpoenaed, she wouldn’t have any info related to the authorized dispute and shouldn’t be concerned within the case.
“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 travelling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history,” her spokesperson stated on May 9.
Swift’s staff stated her solely involvement within the movie was licensing a music, which was 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 stated.
Lively’s authorized staff launched an announcement after information of Swift’s potential involvement within the case unfold. It stated that Baldoni and his authorized staff “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,” the spokesperson stated. “The defendants continue to publicly intimidate, bully, shame and attack women’s rights and reputations.”
Baldoni and Lively’s authorized trial is ready for March 2026 in New York City.
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