- Justin Baldoni is in a legal battle with his It Ends With Us co-star, Blake Lively
- In the trial, Taylor Swift has been subpoenaed to testify, she was close with Lively
- Lively’s lawyer denies that Swift received any ‘threats’ over her texts with the star
The lawyers of Blake Lively denied reports alleging she threatened Taylor Swift over their private text messages. These reports followed Swift’s subpoena in Lively’s legal trial.
A representative for Swift criticized the subpoena and stated she did not participate in casting or creative decisions.
Lively, 37, is in a legal battle with her It Ends With US co-star Justin Baldoni, 41. Lively accuses Baldoni of sexual assault, creating a hostile work environment, and conducting a smear campaign against her. Baldoni countersued for $400 million and denies the allegations.
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But where does Swift come into this? The Karma singer has maintained a years-long friendship with Lively, and the film used her song.
Furthermore, Baldoni’s lawyers allege in their lawsuit that Swift and others put pressure on Baldoni to accept Lively’s script rewrites, and in alleged texts by Lively, she calls Swift one of her “dragons”.
However, Lively’s lawyers are hitting back at claims Lively sent ‘threats’ to Swift.
What did the reports say about Blake Lively and her lawyers?
According to an exclusive by The Daily Mail, Lively allegedly threatened to “leak embarrassing private texts” from Swift, unless she agreed to back her in the Baldoni trial.
In a letter written by Baldoni’s lawyers, it alleges that Lively pressured Swift to issue a public statement of support for her. Additionally, the letter claims that Another Simple Favor star requested that Swift delete text messages between them ahead of the trial.
However, Baldoni’s legal team, led by infamous lawyer Bryan Freedman, hit back at these claims that the subpoena seeks “irrelevant” documents.
Freedman argues that the evidence aims to obtain information related to “witness tampering” and to Lively allegedly attempting to “coerce” Swift into public support.
The letter alleges Lively’s lawyer requested “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”.
Therefore, they argue that through the subpoena, evidence of those communications would show Swift being coerced by Lively.
How did Lively’s lawyers respond to the claims?
Soon after Freedman made his letter public, Lively’s lawyers staunchly denied the allegations of threats to Swift. In a statement to People, Lively’s lawyer, Mike Gottlieb, said on 14 May, “This is categorically false.”
“We unequivocally deny all of these so-called allegations, which are cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources, and completely untethered from reality,” the statement continues.
“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,” Gottlieb said.
“We will imminently file motions with the court to hold these attorneys accountable for their misconduct here.”
Ouch.
