The lawsuit between Blake Lively and It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni could be heading towards a settlement, potentially spurred on by the prospect of a Taylor Swift deposition.

Shake It Off singer Taylor, 35, is a close pal of actress Blake, 37, and her hubby Ryan Reynolds, 48. And Baldoni’s lawyer recently claimed in his lawsuit Taylor was present during a now-infamous meeting where Lively, Reynolds and Baldoni were hashing out the film’s rooftop scene which Lively had re-written.

Baldoni’s solicitor Bryan Freedman appeared on TMZ’s new legal podcast Two Angry Men with Harvey Levin and Mark Geragos. Levin, a seasoned lawyer himself before founding TMZ, assumed Freedman would be deposing Swift, though he was taken aback when Freedman played it cool.

“I don’t know that we’re going to depose Taylor Swift or not. I think that’s probably going to be a game-time decision. I don’t know that that decision has been made,” Freedman revealed. He went on to say: “I can tell you this. Anyone that reasonably has information that can provide evidence in this case is gonna be deposed.”

To which a stunned Levin insisted: “That’s Taylor Swift. She was there for that meeting.” Levin gleefully added: “OK, well I’m a lawyer, I know what that means,” as he speculated about the possibility of Swift being deposed in this legal battle.

The threat of Swift’s deposition could potentially speed up a settlement offer, to prevent the world’s biggest pop star from being cross-examined and grilled by Bryan Freedman. Freedman didn’t specify about deposing Swift, but hinted: “I would imagine that they’re probably gonna take some legal actions that are beyond the bounds of decency and we’ll see if they can try to avoid a deposition.”

Podcast hosts Levin and Geragos then speculated that Lively and her team would go to great lengths to shield Swift by trying to dodge taking this issue to court.

It comes after Baldoni launched a website that claims to clear his name amid his bitter lawsuit battle. The It Ends With Us actor has ramped up his feud with Lively and Reynolds by publishing an online site with his latest court filings, including a timeline of alleged events leading up to the messy legal dispute. Hollywood A-listers Justin and Blake appeared together in the 2024 movie adaptation of Coleen Hoover’s domestic abuse novel, It Ends With Us.

However, since the release, the pair have been at war of words. In December, Blake sued Justin for sexual harassment and allegedly causing severe emotional distress. Justin has strongly refuted the allegations, and last month, he countersued Blake and her husband, Ryan for £321 million for an apparent attempt to destroy his reputation and career. It’s since been claimed Blake and Ryan’s lawyers have filed a notice to state that they will seek to dismiss Justin’s lawsuit.