Thu May 22 10:50:00 UTC 2025: ## Blake Lively’s Legal Battle with Justin Baldoni Entangles Taylor Swift in Alleged Witness Tampering
**NEW YORK, NY** – The ongoing legal dispute between actress Blake Lively and her “It Ends with Us” co-star Justin Baldoni has taken a dramatic turn, dragging pop superstar Taylor Swift into the fray. Baldoni’s legal team is seeking to subpoena Swift, alleging that Lively pressured the singer to get involved in the case and potentially tampered with witnesses.
The lawsuit combines Lively’s accusations of sexual misconduct against Baldoni with Baldoni’s defamation suit against The New York Times over its reporting on the matter. According to court documents, Baldoni’s attorneys filed a request for the Swift subpoena in late April, targeting Venable LLP, a law firm that has previously represented Swift.
In a letter to Judge Lewis Liman on May 14th, Baldoni’s attorneys claimed the subpoena is crucial to uncovering potential witness tampering. They allege that Lively requested Swift delete text messages between them, and that Lively’s attorney, Michael Gottlieb, pressured a Venable attorney representing Swift to release a statement of support for Lively. The demand for a statement allegedly included a threat to release private text messages if Swift didn’t comply, according to Baldoni’s team.
While Swift’s representative has yet to comment, Baldoni’s lawyers claim they possess evidence of a written message from Swift’s team addressing Lively’s request for public support, which they believe demonstrates an attempt to intimidate and coerce a witness.
Michael Gottlieb, Lively’s attorney, vehemently denied the allegations in a statement to USA TODAY, calling them “categorically false” and “cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources, and completely untethered from reality.” He further criticized Baldoni’s legal team, stating they “appear to love nothing more than shooting first, without any evidence, and with no care for the people they are harming in the process.”
Lively’s legal team has also filed a motion to dismiss the request for the subpoena, deeming it “baseless, as well as unnecessary, improper and abusive.” Venable has filed its own motion to quash the subpoena, which Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds (also named in the lawsuit) have joined.
Swift’s spokesperson previously downplayed the singer’s involvement, stating her role in “It Ends with Us” was limited to licensing a song, as did 19 other artists. They called the subpoena a “tabloid clickbait” attempt to draw public interest away from the facts of the case.
The legal battle continues, with the court yet to rule on the subpoena request. The outcome could have significant implications for the case and the relationships between the high-profile figures involved.
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