A judge has ruled that messages between Blake Lively and Taylor Swift are admissible evidence in Justin Baldoni’s ongoing legal dispute with the actress. US District Judge Lewis Liman determined that communications concerning the “It Ends With Us” film set’s atmosphere are pertinent to the case, as reported by Variety.
Lively’s legal team had sought to block the release of these messages, arguing their irrelevance to the proceedings.
Lively initiated legal action against Baldoni and his studio in December, alleging sexual harassment on set and a smear campaign against her. Baldoni countersued, but this defamation claim was dismissed last week.
In May, Baldoni’s legal team attempted to obtain these messages directly from Swift via subpoena, but this was withdrawn following objections from Swift’s legal counsel who deemed it an “unwarranted fishing expedition”.
Subsequently, Lively attempted to prevent Baldoni from accessing the messages through standard discovery procedures.
However, Judge Liman’s Wednesday ruling stated: “Given that Lively has represented that Swift had knowledge of complaints or discussions about the working environment on the film, among other issues, the requests for messages with Swift regarding the film and this action are reasonably tailored to discover information that would prove or disprove Lively’s harassment and retaliation claims.”
In response, a Lively spokesperson told Billboard that the actress had provided extensive documentation and that Baldoni’s team had engaged in a deliberate attempt to involve Swift since last summer for publicity purposes.
The spokesperson stated, “We will continue to call out Baldoni’s relentless efforts to exploit Ms. Swift’s popularity, which from day one has been nothing more than a distraction from the serious sexual harassment and retaliation accusations he and the Wayfarer [Studios] parties are facing.”
Judge Liman, however, rejected Lively’s assertion that Baldoni’s actions were solely for PR gain, stating that it didn’t justify withholding relevant evidence.
Baldoni’s representative declined comment, and Swift’s representatives have not yet responded to requests for comment. Previously, Swift’s representatives described the legal maneuvering as an attempt to generate “tabloid clickbait”. Allegations that Lively’s team threatened to release old text messages if Swift didn’t issue a statement supporting Lively were denied as “unequivocally and demonstrably false” by Lively’s lawyers. The trial is scheduled for March 2026.
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