Since the beginning, Swift’s name was initially mentioned by Baldoni, who claimed she was interfering with the production.
Now, the pop megastar has been roped into court proceedings following a subpoena. If a Mail Online source is to be believed, the music artist will face questioning under oath to clarify her role and insights in the sexual harassment and retaliation case against Baldoni. They also claimed that the first group of potential witnesses that Baldoni’s team wants to hear from have been ed and are due to give evidence at a later date, with other depositions to follow.
Potential witnesses include Swift, It Ends With Us co-stars Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer, staff at Lively’s talent agency, WME, and executives at the distributor, Sony. If deposed, they will answer questions under oath as witnesses, and their responses will be recorded by court reporters.
The bad blood
The news follows months of back and forth after what Lively alleges was a smear campaign orchestrated by star and director Baldoni. The actor claims Baldoni acted inappropriately with her and other women during production, and that he retaliated against her when she reported it in May 2023. She filed an official complaint in December 2023.
A sway public opinion to Baldoni’s side by painting Lively as a steamroller on set who wanted to take the reins away from Baldoni. If true, they did a stellar job of it, with Lively’s reputation quickly turning to ashes as news trickled out about her alleged antics on set.
Baldoni’s suit against Lively and Reynolds claimed, “A famous, and famously close, friend of Reynolds and Lively, walked into the room and similarly began praising Lively’s script. Baldoni understood the subtext: He needed to comply with Lively’s direction for the script.”
Taylor Swift has been dragged into the Baldoni/Lively legal saga…
— Elizabeth Wagmeister (@EWagmeister) January 16, 2025
In his lawsuit filed today, Baldoni claims that Blake insisted on re-writing part of the script (the rooftop scene). Baldoni claims he was "summoned" to Blake/Ryan's home to discuss Blake's version of the… pic.twitter.com/ruJUlcgCdX
Swift’s alleged involvement in pushing Baldoni around creatively aligns with his narrative; that a more famous and wealthy star decided she didn’t trust his vision, and deployed the powerhouses around her to help get her way. Reynolds also was involved in asking for rewrites, according to Baldoni’s team. Swift has never commented on the lawsuits.
When Swift was initially raised in relation to the drama, Lively’s lawyers countered by saying Baldoni’s people “are trying to shift the narrative to Ms. Lively by falsely claiming that she seized creative control and alienated the cast from Mr. Baldoni.” They also said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, “This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the ab attempts to turn the tables on the victim. This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.”
Published: Mar 4, 2025 11:35 am