What’s going on between Taylor Swift and Blake Lively after bombshell lawsuit update?

For many pop culture heads, it’s beginning to feel like a part-time job to keep up with all the Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively drama.

Most recently, Blake’s bestie Taylor Swift has been pulled into the ongoing ferocious legal battle.

Justin’s lawyer (Bryan Freedman) has alleged in a letter that Blake’s lawyer threatened to leak private messages between the actress and Taylor if the singer did not release a statement supporting her.

Mike Gottlieb, Blake’s lawyer, has denied the claim, and on Thursday, Lewis J Liman, the judge in the case, granted his motion to strike the letter from the docket.

Freedman has alleged Gottlieb contacted one of Taylor’s lawyers and ‘demanded’ that she release a statement in support of Blake.

‘If Ms Swift refused to do so, private text messages of a personal nature in Ms Lively’s possession would be released,’ Freedman’s filing states.

He said his team ‘are further informed and believe that a representative of Ms Swift addressed these inappropriate and apparently extortionate threats in at least one written communication transmitted to’ Gottlieb.

Gottlieb called the allegations ‘categorically false,’ continuing: ‘We unequivocally deny all of these so-called allegations, which are cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources, and completely untethered from reality.’

The filing came after Taylor and her lawyers challenged demands from Justin’s lawyers to produce documents or evidence, with team-Taylor claiming the pop star was in no way involved in the events of the case.

But some claim that the whole affair has had a detrimental effect on Blake and Taylor’s friendship.

A source close to Taylor has claimed that her friendship with Blake has ‘halted’, adding that the singer ‘wants no part in this drama,’ People reports.

Another insider suggested the pair, whose close relationship dates back to 2014, are currently ‘taking some space,’ but clarified that they are not estranged entirely.

In late April, a source told the publication that Taylor had been ‘really hurt’ by being drawn into Blake’s legal battle, though at the time both were reportedly trying to move past it.

Court documents filed by Justin in January alleged that Blake referred to Taylor as one of her ‘dragons’ in a text message, implying the singer had been involved in behind-the-scenes tensions.

More recently, a source connected to the ongoing legal case claimed that the subpoena served to Swift on 8 May had ‘fractured’ what had already been a ‘fragile peace’ between the two, despite Swift being godmother to Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ four children.

Separately, multiple sources told People that Lively’s long-standing friendship with model Gigi Hadid has also cooled.

One source close to Gigi said she was upset that someone so close to her had been drawn into the legal turmoil. Another friend added that while Gigi still considers Blake a friend, she is more aligned with Taylor and has taken a step back from Lively to avoid being caught up in the conflict.

It all comes amid Blake and Justin’s ongoing legal battle that has been raging since Blake first accused her It Ends With Us co-star of ‘repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behaviour’ in December.

Her allegations were first made public through a New York Times report, which led to a strong response from the filmmaker’s legal team. 

While Lively has claimed harassment occurred on the set of It Ends With Us, Baldoni has maintained that encounters were more consensual.

His lawyer, Bryan Freedman, branded Lively’s claims ‘completely false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious’.

After denying the damning allegations, Baldoni’s camp filed a multi-million-dollar lawsuit, suing both Lively and her husband, Deadpool icon Ryan Reynolds, as well as publicist Leslie Sloane and her PR firm, Vision PR Inc.

Refuting that he caused Lively ‘severe emotional distress,’ Baldoni began seeking damages of $400million (£323m) in his countersuit following her attempt to ‘destroy’ his reputation and career.’

Lively and Reynolds’ lawyers then filed a notice saying they wished to seek to dismiss Baldoni’s suit, with their legal team labelling the lawsuit ‘baseless.’

Metro has reached out to representatives of Taylor Swift for comment.

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