Taylor Swift Spokesperson Blasts Justin Baldoni Over Blake Lively Subpoena

The legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni hit a new level this week. Taylor Swift, well-known as a friend of Lively’s, was subpoenaed as a witness in Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against his This Ends With Us co-star, in a move Swift’s spokesperson decried as “designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait.”

It’s the latest salvo in a dispute that’s been brewing since last summer, when rumors of trouble behind the scenes started to plague the Baldoni-directed feature. The adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel about problematic and abusive relationships was hit with its own claims of abuse following an internet scrum that suggested Lively behaved unprofessionally on set—a scrum, Lively claimed in a December 2024 lawsuit, that was ginned up as part of a PR strategy from Baldoni, film production company Wayfarer Studios, and a team of crisis communications operatives.

According to Lively’s representatives, the anti-Lively campaign was a preemptive measure to silence her from going public with sexual harassment and misconduct claims against Baldoni and his colleagues. Baldoni and his company responded with suits of their own: a $250 million defamation claim against the New York Times, which was first to report on Lively’s allegations, and a $400 million defamation suit against Lively, herself.

It’s the latter case for which Swift was subpoenaed by Bryan Freedman, the attorney for Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and the publicists said to be behind the allegedly anti-Lively smear campaign, Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel.

It’s unclear, however, what help Swift might provide to Baldoni’s case. It’s indisputable that Swift and Lively are well-documented as friends, spending private and public time together, but it’s hard to see how that translates to the singer’s ability to comment on the alleged harassment (or lack thereof) on the It Ends With Us set.

A representative for Swift raises the same point, saying in a statement that “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.”

“The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, ‘My Tears Ricochet.’ Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case,” the statement reads.

It’s certainly not the first time that Baldoni’s team has brought Swift’s name up in connection with Lively. According to Lively’s initial legal filing, the PR team hired by Wayfarer provided a “scenario planning document” that read “our team can also explore planting stories about the weaponization of feminism and how people like Taylor Swift, have been accused of utilizing these tactics to ‘bully’ into getting what they want.”

In an email sent to Wayfarer shortly before the film’s August 9, 2024 release, a PR strategist wrote “We have seen the most innocuous issues turn giant due to socials or the hugest crises have no effect on social whatsoever. You just cannot tell at this stage. But, BL does have some of the same TS fanbase so we will be taking it extremely seriously.” (BL and TS are assumed to reference Lively and Swift, respectively.)

A spokesperson for Lively says that the Baldoni team’s move to bring Swift into the case is another attempt to punish Lively for speaking out.

“Mr Baldoni, [Wayfarer Studios co-founder Steve Sarowitz], and team continue to turn a case of sexual harassment and retaliation into entertainment for the tabloids, going as far as suggesting that they sell tickets to a concert venue – Madison Square Garden – to witness Ms. Lively’s deposition, to subpoenaing Taylor Swift, a woman who has given a voice to millions the world over. This is a very serious legal matter, not Barnum & Bailey’s Circus,” the statement reads.

“The defendants continue to publicly intimidate, bully, shame and attack women’s rights and reputations. Including in the past month seeking to strike down for all, a powerful California victims’ rights law, calling it “unconstitutional”. The disturbing actions by a billionaire, men who made their careers as ‘female allies’ and their team continue to show their true colors.”

The case is expected to be heard in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 9, 2026, with Judge Lewis J. Liman presiding.