Taylor Swift has been subpoenaed in the legal battle between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively over the film “It Ends With Us.”
Taylor Swift is getting tied up in Justin Baldoni’s defamation suit against Blake Lively over the film “It Ends With Us,” but a spokesperson for Swift denies any involvement with the film beyond licensing music.
Her track “My Tears Ricochet” was licensed for use in the film’s trailer and a scene. But Baldoni’s lawsuit, filed in January, included text messages in which Lively alludes to Swift as “one of her dragons.”
Baldoni alleges in the $400 million suit that Blake Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds hijacked the production of “It Ends With Us” in order to destroy his reputation with allegations of sexual harassment.
The texts pertain to a rooftop scene in the film that Lively had allegedly reworked from the script.
According to Baldoni’s suit, Lively summoned him to her New York penthouse where Reynolds and a “mega-celebrity friend,” believed to be Swift, praised her version of the scene.
Baldoni’s lawyers say he felt “obliged to text Lively to say that he had liked her pages and hadn’t needed Reynolds and her mega-celebrity friend to pressure him.”
Lively later sent a text that referred to Reynolds and a friend, again presumed to be Swift, as “absolute titans as writers and storytellers outside of their primary gig.” She compared herself to the Queen of Dragons, Daenerys, in HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” adding, “My dragons also protect those I fight for,” referring to Reynolds and Swift. “So really, we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. You will too, I can promise you.”
“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,” wrote a spokesperson for Swift, denying any involvement in the film beyond licensing her music.
The legal battle between Lively and Baldoni began in December. Lively filed a letter with the California Civil Rights Department with allegations that Baldoni sexually harassed her and engaged in a smear campaign against her in 2024.
When the New York Times ran a report about it, Baldoni sued them for $250 million on January 1, accusing them of libel.
In return, Lively sued Baldoni for violating federal and California state law; this prompted Baldoni to countersue.
Reynolds and Lively have both filed motions to dismiss the $400 million suit, arguing it was filed as retaliation for Lively lodging a sexual harassment claim.