Taylor Swift’s legal team has called for the subpoena from Justin Baldoni to be thrown out of the Blake Lively lawsuit.
News of the subpoena arose at the end of April, and comes in relation to the accusations of sexual harassment, retaliation and defamation connected to the filming of It Ends With Us – the 2024 film that Baldoni directed and starred in alongside Lively.
Now, Swift’s law firm, Venable, has spoken out about the subpoena and described it as an “abuse of the discovery process” meant to distract from the case at hand. Their filing was shared on Monday (May 12) and Tuesday (13), and outlined how neither the pop star nor her team had anything to do with the issues raised in the lawsuit.
In the notion, they shared (via Billboard): “Venable had nothing to do with the film at issue or any of the claims or defences asserted in the underlying lawsuit. There is no reason for this subpoena other than to distract from the facts of the case and impose undue burden and expense on a non-party.”
When the motion for the subpoena was first issued, it named Swift – who is a friend of Lively’s – as a witness and alleged that the pop star was present for discussions between Lively and Baldoni about a scene at the beginning of the film.
It claimed that Lively invited Baldoni to her New York City residence to talk over possible script changes, and Baldoni was left surprised to see that Swift and Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds were there too. He alleges that Swift and Reynolds approved of Lively’s suggested version of the scene in question, pressuring him into accepting the revisions.
The original filing also made a nod to Swift and Reynolds, including text messages where Lively appears to refer to the two as her “dragons”: “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 of worse, but usually better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for.”
Elsewhere in the latest development, Swift’s lawyers have claimed that the director should have only sourced communications from Lively and her husband, and that including the pop star’s name is an “abuse of the discovery process”.
This builds upon comments shared by the team last week, which read: “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.” It also added that her connection to It Ends With Us is limited to licensing one song, ‘My Tears Ricochet’.
That being said, fellow It Ends With Us actor Isabela Ferrer told Extra that Swift helped her get in character to play the younger version of Lively’s character.
“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 spokesperson added last week.
The legal battle began last December, when Lively filed a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint with the California Civil Rights Department against Baldoni. In it, she accused him of “inappropriate and unwelcome behaviour” and claimed he was trying to “destroy” her reputation.
Baldoni has denied all accusations and countersued on January 16, including Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane in the suit. In the aftermath of Lively’s suit, Baldoni was dropped by his talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME). He also had a women’s solidarity award rescinded.
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