Taylor Swift subpoenaed in Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni legal battle

Taylors Swift, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Image: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP; Nicole Rivelli/Sony Pictures via AP

Taylor Swift, a close friend of Blake Lively, has been subpoenaed in the latter’s ongoing legal battle with “It Ends with Us” actor-director Justin Baldoni — a move described by the pop star’s camp as “designed to use [her] name to draw public interest.”

Lively sued Baldoni in late December for alleged sexual harassment and smear campaign. Baldoni later countersued in January and accused Lively and her husband, “Deadpool” actor Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion.

Swift’s name was dragged into the co-actors’ legal feud after Baldoni’s defamation suit cited his alleged text exchanges with Lively where the “Bad Blood” singer was referenced.

Baldoni alleged that Lively leveraged her friendship with Swift — whose song “My Tears Ricochet” was used as a soundtrack for the film — during the co-actors’ disagreement over a scene.

“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,” Swift’s spokesperson said in a statement on Friday, May 9.

“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 representative added.

“It Ends with Us,” an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel, was released in August 2024. /ra