Blake Lively‘s ongoing legal drama with Justin Baldoni took an unexpected turn by pulling in Taylor Swift.
After costarring in It Ends With Us together, Lively sued Baldoni in December 2024 accusing her costar and director of of sexual harassment and orchestrating an alleged smear campaign. In her filing, Lively claimed that Baldoni named Swift while discussing his alleged takedown plans.
Baldoni vehemently denied the allegations and countersued Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. The actor accused Lively and Reynolds of civil extortion, defamation, false light invasion of privacy and more.
When Baldoni filed his $400 million lawsuit in January 2025, Swift’s name appeared in court documents. Baldoni claimed that Lively brought up Swift, who has been her good friend for years, during an alleged text exchange about making changes to the It Ends With Us script.
Detailing Taylor Swift’s Apparent Influence on the ‘It Ends With Us’ Cast
Swift and her team did not publicly comment on the legal matter until she was subpoenaed in May 2025.
“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,” a rep for the singer said in a statement to Us Weekly. “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.”
Keep scrolling for a full breakdown on how Swift was brought into Lively and Baldoni’s legal situation:
Using Taylor Swift’s Song in the Trailer
When the It Ends With Us trailer dropped in May 2024, it featured Swift’s song “My Tears Ricochet.” After the song was included, Lively revealed she selected the song for the trailer.
“Them together made a lot of sense,” she said at Hoover’s Book Bonanza festival in June 2024. “Colleen is able to tell something that’s deeply personal and intimate but is able to resonate with so many people. And Taylor, she’s such an incredible writer. She writes from such personal experiences and vulnerability.”
Blake Lively Gushes About Taylor Swift’s Support
During an August 2024 panel for the film, Lively spoke about the movie’s budget for songs. The moderator subsequently asked Lively if she persuaded Swift to agree to license the song for the trailer.
“Honestly, she was with me on this experience the whole time,” Lively said, per social media footage. “She really lived this with me, so she’s a person who shows up for you. I’m so grateful to have that love and that support.”
The Taylor Swift and Isabela Ferrer Connection
Ferrer, who plays the younger version of Lively’s Lily in It Ends With Us, told Extra at the August 2024 premiere that Swift helped her land the role.
“She was a helpful part of the audition, which I found out later when I got it,” Ferrer said. “And that rocked my world.”
Baldoni echoed similar sentiments when he spoke to Extra that same month,
“I was casting and I had actually brought in and showed her casting tape to Blake and Taylor and they were both like, ‘Yes, her!’” Baldoni recalled. “And that’s a true story, but she just blew me away.”
Blake Lively Mentions Taylor Swift 1st
In Lively’s December 2024 filing, she claimed that Baldoni’s crisis management team mentioned Swift in their alleged plan to ruin Lively’s career. According to exhibits attached to the complaint, a crisis management expert working for Baldoni wrote in an email, “We have seen the most innocuous issues turn giant due to socials or the hugest crises have no effect on social whatsoever. You just cannot tell at this stage. But, BL does have some of the same TS fanbase so we will be taking it extremely seriously.”
A separate “scenario planning” document from Baldoni’s side also read, “Our team can also explore planting stories about the weaponization of feminism and how people like Taylor Swift, have been accused of utilizing these tactics to ‘bully’ into getting what they want.”
Justin Baldoni Seemingly References Taylor Swift in Texts
In his January filing, Baldoni appeared to reference Swift in a text message to Lively about the changes she wanted to make to the now-infamous rooftop scene in It Ends With Us.
“Was working on rooftop scene today, I really love what you did. It really does hep [sic] a lot. Makes it so much more fun and interesting. (And I would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor),” Baldoni’s texts read alongside a winking face emoji. “You really are a talent across the board. Really excited nd [sic] grateful to do this together.”
He also claimed that Lively referred to Swift as one of her “dragons” while comparing herself to Khaleesi from Game of Thrones in other messages.
Later in the filing, Baldoni referenced an unnamed “megacelebrity,” who is believed to be Swift, when Lively was allegedly upset that he wasn’t going to make her tweaks to the scene. Lively’s alleged message read, “Of course, didn’t feel great for me. Or [another megacelebrity friend and Ryan Reynolds]. To have my passion praised instead of my specific contribution.”
In addition to text messages with Lively, Swift’s name also came up in a discussion Baldoni had with Sony executives over using the pop star’s song in the trailer. An executive claimed that Lively personally called Swift to “approve” the use of her song.
“Blake is calling Taylor to approve the song. She of course reached out saying she is asking for time with … her editor,” read a message from a contact named Sony Executive No. 1. “We know it was conditional on signing contract – but asking if you’ll reconsider so … can release this trailer and Blake does not change mind re calling Taylor Swift.”
Taylor Swift Gets Subpoenaed
Months after the legal back and forth began, Swift was subpoenaed. Swift’s representative denied that the singer had any involvement in the film.
“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,” the rep said in a statement to Us. “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 spokesperson added, “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.”
Swift’s legal team is fighting to get the subpoena dismissed.
Justin Baldoni’s Lawyer’s Alleged Taylor Swift Source
After news of the subpoena broke, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman claimed in a letter to the judge that he had been in touch with an ally of Swift. Freedman claimed that in a one-hour Valentine’s Day call, the source told him that Lively’s lawyers made “extortionate threats” to the law firm representing Swift and demanded that she “release a statement of support” for Lively.
Lively denied the allegations and asked the judge to throw out Freedman’s letter. The judge ruled in favor of the Gossip Girl actress and the letter was struck from the record.
