Blake Lively urged Taylor Swift to delete texts amid Justin Baldoni legal war, court docs claim
Blake Lively has been thrust deeper into the legal turmoil with actor-director Justin Baldoni, with newly surfaced court filings alleging she instructed pop superstar Taylor Swift to delete private messages amid intensifying litigation.
Blake Lively at the "Another Simple Favor" Premiere held at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 27, 2025 in New York, New York.
John Nacion
According to documents obtained Wednesday, Baldoni's legal team claims an anonymous source with “highly likely reliable information” revealed that Lively asked Swift to “delete their text messages.” The exact timing of this alleged request remains unspecified in the court record.
Attorneys representing Baldoni and his company, Wayfarer Studios, also allege Lively’s lead attorney, Michael Gottlieb, contacted Swift’s legal representatives at Venable LLP to seek a public statement of support from the singer. The request allegedly came with an implicit warning: failure to comply might result in the release of “private text messages of a personal nature” from Lively’s possession.
Swift’s camp reportedly responded with written communication rejecting what they described as “inappropriate and apparently extortionate threats,” which Baldoni’s lawyers are now seeking through a subpoena to Venable.
“The [communications] would evidence an attempt to intimidate and coerce a percipient witness in this litigation,” the filing states.
However, Gottlieb firmly rejected the accusations, calling them “categorically false” and “completely untethered from reality.” A judge ultimately ruled Baldoni’s claims inadmissible, citing the intent “to promote public scandal” without sufficient evidence.
The Grammy-winning Swift was subpoenaed earlier this year as a potential witness in the escalating legal dispute between Lively and her It Ends With Us co-star Baldoni. The lawsuit, which began in December 2024, includes claims of sexual harassment and emotional distress made by Lively. Baldoni countersued for defamation and extortion, name-checking Swift in his defense.
In the filings, Baldoni’s team described Swift and her husband Ryan Reynolds as Lively’s “dragons” who offer protection during creative conflicts. “The message could not have been clearer,” the document reads. “Baldoni was not just dealing with Lively… he was also facing Lively’s ‘dragons.’”
Swift, through her publicist, denied any involvement in the film project and emphasized that the singer spent most of 2023 and 2024 headlining her global Eras Tour.
Despite the legal chaos, sources claim Swift and Lively are “ready to move forward” in their friendship, though Swift allegedly felt “used” when her name surfaced in the controversy.
Lively appeared to allude to the ordeal in a recent interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers, saying, “This year has been full of the highest highs and lowest lows of my life.”
