In case you were wondering, theIt Ends With Uslegal battle betweenBlake Livelyand Justin Baldoni is still ongoing, although the public did seem to get a small break from it in recent weeks. The release of Lively’s new filmAnother Simple Favorseemed to begetting more attention than the legal fight, and perhaps that’s why Baldoni’s side decided to once again throw in a person’s name who is arguably the most powerful person in entertainment. Taylor Swift has seen her name brought up many times during this fight, but Baldoni’s team has now used the music star’s name in a more pointed way that has Lively’s side fighting back.
Per Variety, Lively’s lawyer is vehemently denying claims made by Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, that someone on the actress’s legal team tried to pressure or blackmail Swift into releasing a statement to support her during this lengthy and public fight. According to Freedman, in court filings, “Michael Gottlieb of Willkie Farr, counsel for the Lively Defendants, contacted a Venable attorney who represents Ms. Swift 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.” Gottlieb, the lawyer addressed in Freedman’s statement, hit back at the accusation, calling it “cowardly” and “completely untethered from reality.”
“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. We will imminently file motions with the court to hold these attorneys accountable for their misconduct here.”
Blake Lively’s Legal Team Means Business
It does feel like Justin Baldoni’s team is beginning to grasp at straws. And what bigger straw to grasp than painting the picture that Lively is dastardly enough to try and pressure a powerhouse like Swift, who happens to be one of her best friends, although some unsubstantiated reports suggest there is now a rift between the twobecause of this legal battle. To show that they aren’t playing around, Lively’s team also sent a letter to Judge Liman that requested Freedman’s Swift accusations be stricken from the record.
“On behalf of our client, Blake Lively, we respectfully move to strike the letter signed by Mr. Bryan Freedman and filed earlier today. That letter, which was not filed with any evidentiary support of any kind, much less anything under oath, falsely accuses Ms. Lively, and her counsel, of engaging in ‘witness tampering and evidence spoliation’ based on an undisclosed anonymous source.”
Blake Lively Opens Up About “Intense” Year in First TV Interview Since Justin Baldoni Lawsuit
Blake Lively says that the last year of her life “has been full of the highest highs and the lowest lows.”
Swift has found herself pulled into this mess following a subpoena in relation to Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit. The actor and director’s suit references text messages between him and Lively in which the actress appears to reference Swift as “one of her dragons,” which is a nod to Livelyreferring to herself as KhaleesifromGame of Thrones. When news of the subpoena broke, Swift’s team quickly distanced themselves from it.
“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.”
Source:Variety
It Ends With Us
