Pop music megastar Taylor Swift and her significant other of the last two years, four-time first-team All-Pro Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Travis Kelce, have found themselves embroiled in a legal imbroglio involving one if Swift’s closest friends. Now, that court case is having a direct impact on the Swift’s friendship â and Kelce’s bromance with the friend’s husband, according to multiple media reports.
Now, the sordid case has revealed an alleged attempt at what can best be described as blackmail against Swift, reportedly perpetrated by the friend, Gossip Girl actress Blake Lively. The alleged attempt surfaced in court papers filed by attorney for film actor and director Justin Baldoni, 41, who is both being sued by lively, and countersuing the 37-year-old actress. The contents of that filing was revealed in a Wednesday report by The Hollywood Reporter.
Swift, 35, was pulled into the case by Baldoni and his legal team when they issued a subpoena seeking to compel Swift to testify in the case. The subpoena was first publicly reported by the celebrity news site TMZ on May 9.
What is Taylor Swift’s Involvement in the Case?
Baldoni wants Swift to testify, according to THR, about an incident in 2023 when Lively invited him to her home in New York City, on the pretext of discussing changes to a scene at the beginning of It Ends With Us.
“Once there, Baldoni said he was ambushed by Livelyâs husband, Ryan Reynolds, and close friend, Swift, according to the lawsuit, which cites communications that include the name ‘Taylor,’” THR reported, adding that Swift and Reynolds allegedly attempted to pressure Baldoni into bowing to Lively’s notes on the scene.
Lively has been married to the Deadpool actor since 2012. Through Swift’s friendship with Lively, Kelce had also befriended Reynolds. The two celebrity power couples have been seen in public on what appeared to be double dates.
But the court case has reportedly put a strain on the friendship between the two women, and the men have allegedly followed suit, with Kelce unfollowing Reynolds on the social media app Instagram, according to a report by The Daily Mail.
The legal quagmire stems from claims of bullying and sexual harassment made by Lively against Baldoni when the pair co-starred in the 2024 drama film It Ends With Us, which was also directed by Baldoni.
Lively Alleges On-Set Inappropriate Conduct
According to a report by the pop culture criticism site Vulture, “Lively claims that Baldoni ‘improvised physical intimacy that had not been rehearsed, choreographed, or discussed with’ her and attempted to add nudity and graphic scenes that werenât in the original script without an intimacy coordinator present.”
Lively also claims that due to disagreements over themes on which the film’s publicity should be focused, Baldoni hired a public relations firm to smear and “bury” her in the press, according to the Vulture report.
Baldoni, who denies Lively’s claims, in turn has countersued Lively for defamation over her allegations against him. Baldoni seeks $400 million in damages, the same sum that Lively is seeking in her suit against him.
Director Claims Swift Blackmailed by BFF Lively
The case dragged Swift into its maelstrom on Wednesday when, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Baldoni made a shocking claim against Lively. Through his lawyer, the actor/director now alleges that Lively attempted to blackmail her BFF Swift into issuing a public statement of support for her in the case.
If Swift refused, according to the court filing as quoted by the Reporter, Lively “intimated” that “‘private text messages of a personal nature’ in the actressâ possession would be made public.”
Allegedly, Lively was not simply referring to a few text messages, but to “âten yearsâ of private texts’ between the two women.
Lively’s attorney, Michael Gottlieb, dismissed Baldoni’s allegations as “categorically false,” according to THR.
On Thursday, federal Judge Lewis J. Liman ruled that the letter alleging the Lively extortion attempt was “improper” and “irrelevant to any issue before this Court,” ordering it stricken from the court record, according to a People Magazine report. But the judge issued no opinion on whether the allegations were factual or not.
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