Who else is wager that this very important update wo n’t make it to social media in quite the same agency …
If you’ve been online in the past day, there’s a chance that you saw a version of, “Hey, didn’tBlake Livelytry to forceTaylor Swiftinto supporting her during the whole Justin Baldoni thing?” Well, as with everything in this case, what happened went through about a hundred twisted versions of telephone. So, here’s what you actually need to know.
Last week, Taylor wassubpoenaedby Justin’s attorney as his side is arguing that Blake used the singer as part of her alleged strategy to take over the filming ofIt Ends With Us. They’ve also argued that thesexual harassment claimsthat Blake has made against Justin, which included a meeting during the filming of the movie, were part of a big scheme to destroy his reputation.
Taylor has denied any major involvement in the movie, with a representativesayinglast week, “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.”
Yesterday, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman wrote a letter to aNew Yorkjudge arguing that theirsubpoenaagainst Taylor’s lawyers in DC did not seek “irrelevant” information. “Based on information from a source who is highly likely to have reliable information,” the lawyer alleges that Blake told Taylor to delete their text messages. They further claim that the source said a legal rep for Blake tried to get a “statement of support for Ms. Lively, intimating that, if Ms. Swift refused to do so, private text messages of a personal nature in Ms. Lively’s possession would be released.”
Blake’s lawyers quicklyresponded, calling the allegations “categorically false” and “cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources, and completely untethered from reality. They further said in a statement, “This is what we have come to expect from the Wayfarer parties’ lawyers, who appear to love nothing more than shooting first, without any evidence, and with no care for the people they are harming in the process.”
Blake’s team then filed to strike theletterfrom Justin’s side. Freedman subsequently signed anaffidavitclaiming that he spoke to a “person very closely linked to Taylor Swift,” resulting in Blake’s lawyer telling People, “Another day, another bogus filing designed for clickbait. We reiterate our unequivocal denial.”
So, what did the judge have to say? Blake’s motion to strike the letter wasgranted. A statement from the judge reads, “The Letter is improper and must be stricken. It is irrelevant to any issue before this Court and does not request any action from this Court.”
“The sole purpose of the Letter is to ‘promote public scandal’ by advancing inflammatory accusations, on information and belief, against Lively and her counsel,” the judge continues. “It transparently invites a press uproar by suggesting that Lively and her counsel attempted to ‘extort’ a well-known celebrity.”
It is further noted that “court filings may be abused to make potentially defamatory statements without the threat of liability,” because of the defamation laws in New York, which essentially mean that you can’t be held liable for defamation if it’s “in connection with a proceeding before a court.” The 2015 case of Front, Inc. v. Khalil, is quoted, saying, “Although the act of filing a document with a court might be thought to lend that document additional credibility, in fact, allegations appearing in such documents might be less credible than those published elsewhere.”
A number of dockets were subsequently struck, with the judge advising, “Counsel is advised that future misuse of the Court’s docket may be met with sanctions.”
So, there we have it. As per a judge, the letter claiming that Blake tried to pressure Taylor is “improper and must be stricken.”
