By Shannon Cook

The messages between Lively and Swift, which are concerned with the It Ends With Us film set, are relevant to the case – a judge has ruled.

Lively’s team applied to prevent Justin Baldoni obtaining the messages, arguing they were irrelevant.

Baldoni’s legal team reportedly attempted to get hold of the messages directly from Swift by sending subpoenas to the pop singer and her lawyers.

The subpoenas were dropped after Swift’s legal team objected that they amounted to an “unwarranted fishing expedition”.

Lively then tried to prevent Baldoni gaining access to the messages.

US District Judge Lewis Liman said on Wednesday: “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.”

Lively’s spokesperson told Billboard the actress had “produced far more documents in this case” than Baldoni.

They continued that Baldoni and his publicity team had been trying to “drag Taylor Swift” into the ordeal since last summer.

The spokesperson said: “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.”

However, Judge Liman said Lively’s claim that Baldoni was only involving Swift in the case for PR purposes “does not justify denying the Wayfarer parties relevant discovery”.

At the time of the subpoena, a spokesperson for Lively said they were “pleased” and would “continue to stand up for any third party who is unjustly harassed or threatened in the process”.

Before that, representatives for Swift told the BBC she was being dragged into the legal saga to create “tabloid clickbait”.

Swift has reportedly been subpoenaed to provide information after it was alleged she tried to persuade Baldoni to accept Lively’s re-writes of the film script.

Baldoni accused Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and Swift of being Lively’s “dragons” when discussing script changes in 2023.

Swift’s team responded and said “she was not involved in any casting or creative decision” and “never saw an edit or made any notes on the film”.

It comes as a judge dismissed the lawsuit filed by actor and director Justin Baldoni against his It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively after she sued him for sexual harassment and retaliation.

US District Court Judge Lewis Liman’s decision is the latest development in the bitter legal battle surrounding the dark romantic drama that includes Lively suing Baldoni in late December.

Baldoni and production company Wayfarer Studios countersued in January for 400 million dollars (£294.9 million), accusing Lively and her husband, Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion.

The judge ruled that Baldoni cannot sue Lively for defamation over claims she made in her lawsuit, because allegations made in a lawsuit are exempt from libel claims.

Judge Liman also ruled that Baldoni’s claims that Lively stole creative control of the film did not count as extortion under California law.

While Lively was accused in the lawsuit of threatening to refuse to promote the film, Wayfarer does “not allege facts showing that Lively had an obligation to promote the film or to approve marketing materials”, Judge Liman wrote.

Baldoni’s legal team can revise the lawsuit if it wants to pursue different claims related to whether Lively breached a contract, the judge said.

It Ends With Us, an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel that begins as a romance but takes a dark turn into domestic violence, was released in August, exceeding box office expectations with a 50 million dollar (£36.8 million) debut.

But the film’s release was shrouded by speculation over discord between Lively and Baldoni.

The judge also dismissed Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, which had reported on Lively’s sexual harassment allegations.

‘Total victory’

The “opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively, along with those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties dragged into their retaliatory lawsuit, including Ryan Reynolds, (publicist) Leslie Sloane and The New York Times,” Lively’s lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, said in a prepared statement.

The lawyers said they “look forward to the next round” of seeking lawyers’ fees, treble damages and punitive damages.

A spokesperson for The New York Times said they were “grateful to the court for seeing the lawsuit for what it was: a meritless attempt to stifle honest reporting”.

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“Our journalists went out and covered carefully and fairly a story of public importance, and the court recognized that the law is designed to protect just that sort of journalism,” Charlie Stadtlander said in a statement.

Lively appeared in the 2005 film The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants and the TV series Gossip Girl from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films including The Town, The Shallows and The Age of Adaline.

Baldoni starred in the TV comedy Jane The Virgin, directed the 2019 film Five Feet Apart and wrote Man Enough, a book challenging traditional notions of masculinity.