EXCLUSIVE – Why Taylor Swift could now be ‘the smoking gun’ in Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni legal battle: Insider reveals new twist in It Ends With Us saga | HO
This time last year, as they cheered on Travis Kelce at the Super Bowl together, Taylor Swift and Blake Lively seemed inseparable.
The decade-long, self-proclaimed ‘besties’ hugged, downed plastic cups of wine and generally played up to the cameras and – frankly – came close to overshadowing Swift’s boyfriend as his team, the Kansas City Chiefs, stormed to victory.
Fast forward just 12 months and there’s a glaring question mark over that once unshakeable Swift-Lively bond.
Things appeared to sour when Swift, 35, stayed silent after Lively, 37, accused her co-star and director Justin Baldoni of s3xual harassment on the set of their film It Ends with Us in a shock lawsuit filed last December.
The singer was then dragged directly into the mess when Baldoni filed a countersuit in January, which included screenshots of his alleged text exchanges with Lively, in which she had called Swift one of her ‘dragons’ in an apparent Game of Thrones reference.
Swift – who is godmother to three of Lively’s children – ‘felt used’ by her friend, a source previously told the Daily Mail, adding that she consequently took a ‘step back’ from their relationship.
This time last year, as they cheered on Travis Kelce at the Super Bowl together, Taylor Swift and Blake Lively seemed inseparable.
Fast forward just 12 months and there’s a glaring question mark over that once unshakeable Swift-Lively bond. Things appeared to sour when Swift, 35, stayed silent after Lively, 37, accused her co-star and director Justin Baldoni of s3xual harassment on the set of their film It Ends with Us in a shock lawsuit filed last December. (Pictured: Lively and Baldoni on set).
The singer was then dragged directly into the mess when Baldoni filed a countersuit in January, which included screenshots of his alleged text exchanges with Lively (pictured with husband Ryan Reynolds).
Now, another source claims: ‘Taylor appears to have distanced herself from her best friend, who has accused a man of s3xual harassment, despite being the godmother of her [Blake’s] children.’
This insider also points out that, in 2017, Swift successfully sued former DJ David Mueller for battery and s3xual assault. Swift had claimed that, at an event in 2013, Mueller reached under her skirt and groped her backside.
Mueller attempted to sue Swift for defamation – but the singer counter-sued, seeking a symbolic $1 in damages, and won.
Following her victory, she pledged to make financial donations to ‘multiple organizations that help s3xual assault victims defend themselves’.
In 2016, she memorably gave $250,000 to fellow popstar Kesha to help cover her legal fees during her battle against her former producer ‘Dr Luke’ – whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald and who Kesha had accused of s3xual assault and psychological abuse.
Kesha and Gottwald reached a ‘resolution’ in 2023. Though he has continued to deny the claims made against him.
‘Taylor is a s3xual assault victim and spent more than a year of her life fighting for a case that she knew she would win. She has donated money to s3xual assault victims’ funds,’ the insider said, adding: ‘If Taylor truly supported Blake, would she not want to publicly back her?’
Representatives for both Swift and Lively did not respond to requests for comment.
‘Some people feel [Taylor] should be offering comfort and using her platform to rally Swifties in support of what is right,’ the source said. ‘Instead, Taylor appears to have gone silent and is staying out of the public eye. This will likely play a role in Justin’s defense.’
In his filing, Baldoni claims Lively used her ‘megacelebrity friend’ to intimidate him at a meeting – also allegedly attended by Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, 48 – to discuss script edits she had made to a rooftop scene in the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s popular novel.
Baldoni claims that the ‘subtext’ of Swift’s presence at the meeting was that he ‘needed to comply with Blake’s direction for the script’. Swift has not publicly responded to Baldoni’s filing.
But, our source now says, her apparent refusal to address any accusations levelled against her, and her failure to speak out in support of her long-time friend, could be a nail in the coffin for Lively.
‘If Taylor does not believe Blake,’ the insider claimed. ‘She will be the smoking gun in this case.’
