Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal drama has taken a major turn as the It Ends With Us director’s team homes in on Taylor Swift.
Though Swift would clearly like to be excluded from this narrative, her name has been linked to the Colleen Hoover film adaptation since before Lively and Baldoni’s contentious legal battle began, starting with the use of her song “My Tears Ricochet” in a promotional trailer back in May 2024. The song eventually made its way into the final cut of It Ends With Us, though Baldoni’s legal team alleges Swift’s music is not her only link to the production.
Both Swift’s and Lively’s legal teams are fighting Baldoni’s attempt to subpoena the pop star. According to Baldoni’s lawyers, the subpoena seeks to uncover evidence that Lively threatened Swift, promising to release private text messages if Swift did not release a statement in support of Lively. Lively’s attorney’s call this accusation “categorically false” and “completely untethered from reality.”
So, how did we get here? Here’s what we know about Baldoni’s claims and Swift’s so-called involvement in the film. (For a more in-depth timeline of the film and subsequent lawsuits, click here. This article will only explore the aspects that pertain to Swift with some additional context.)
January 20, 2026: The judge overseeing the case orders hundreds of documents to be unsealed ahead of a hearing, including several texts between Lively and Swift about Justin Baldoni and It Ends With Us, per ABC News.
One exchange, as reported by People, seemed to show Lively and Swift’s friendship beginning to strain, but also how they were attempting to talk it through.
“I have no reason to ask, but I donno [sic], I’ve been feeling like I should… is everything ok? I felt like a bad friend lately because I was such a sad sack who only talked about my own shit for months. You were generous to not only be the key person there for me during all of it, but also to let me off the hook for being so in it,” Lively wrote, adding that she wanted to be a better friend and “make sure all is good.”
Swift responded that Lively wasn’t wrong, but that it also wasn’t a big deal. “I think I’m just exhausted in every avenue of my life and in recent months had been feeling a little bit of a shift in the way you talk to me,” she responded. “It’s felt like I was reading a mass corporate email sent to 200 employees.” Swift said she felt awful criticizing any way that Lively has been processing, but, “I just kinda miss my funny, dark, normal-speaking friend who talks to me as herself.” She added, “That’s just caused a little distance. And you don’t need to apologize. Just come back please.”
In other messages, per E! News, Lively asked Swift to look over her revised script for It Ends With Us, referring to Baldoni as her “doofus director” and a “clown.” Per court documents, in later texts, Lively wrote, “You were so epically heroic today. I recapped every moment to Ryan. I kept remembering stuff—You making shit up about me and lenses. And referring to yourself as my doll. This clown falling for all of it. But also resisting it.” Lively also texted, “You are the worlds absolute greatest friend ever.”
Per People, Baldoni has alleged that Lively asked Swift to sign off on her revised version of the It Ends With Us script without having read it. Lively’s lawyers have argued that these texts are missing essential context. In earlier testimony, Lively said, “[I] sent Taylor the script on her way to my apartment because Justin was still there, and I asked her to read them. I told her she didn’t have to, I didn’t want her to feel pressured to do that, but I hoped that she would.”
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