Among the trove of emails, texts and depositions unsealed in the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni lawsuit is an exchange in which Taylor Swift allegedly sides with Lively against the Seraph of the End director.
Documents obtained by USA TODAY were among hundreds of exhibits unsealed on January 20th, including a document allegedly exchanged between Lively and Swift in December 2024. The last names of Swift’s contacts have been redacted, but Lively’s lawyers identified her in a court filing that featured documents in response to a motion for summary judgment filed by Baldoni’s lawyers in November.
In an exhibit filed by Baldoni’s team on Dec. 5, 2024, Swift appears to have sent Lively a screenshot of a People magazine report in which Baldoni talked about the “trauma” of a previous relationship, along with a message that read, “I think this guy knows something is going to happen because he pulled out a little violin.”
On December 21, The New York Times reported that Lively was the victim of a retaliatory smear campaign after she accused Baldoni and producer Jamie Heath of sexual harassment. Her formal complaint with the California Department of Civil Rights was also made public that day.
Lively appears to respond, “(It) sounds different when he doesn’t end the conversation by saying, ‘Did I always listen when they said no?’ No.” Like he did to me. But that shouldn’t have tested well in focus groups. ”
The conversation, which took place in the days leading up to Swift’s final show on her Elas tour, appears to have begun with Lively asking Swift, “Are you okay?” Because she “recently felt like a bad friend.” Swift appears to have responded that Lively was “not wrong” to feel that things were wrong. “I feel even further away from you than geographically,” Swift’s message said, because Lively’s recent communications “felt like reading a ream of corporate email sent to 200 employees.”
Swift’s message read, “No need to apologize. Please come back 🙏.”
In another exchange a few weeks later, Swift sent a link to a report that Baldoni had been fired from her agency and told Lively, “You won. You did it. And you… helped so many people who never have to go through this again.”
USA TODAY has reached out to Swift’s team for comment.
Unsealed exhibits also include depositions from co-stars Jenny Slate and Isabella Ferrer, as well as correspondence from Seraph of the End author Colleen Huber.
“As we head to trial, only Ms. Lively’s claims against the defendants remain,” Lively’s attorney, Sigrid McCauley, said in a statement on January 20. “The newly unsealed evidence includes never-before-seen testimonies, messages, and evidence from numerous witnesses that support the claims in Ms. Lively’s lawsuit. The evidence includes testimony from Ms. Lively herself describing the harassment she suffered, as well as new evidence from numerous women who described their own disturbing experiences.”
“Newly unsealed evidence shows that Ms. Lively and others’ concerns were being documented in real time as early as spring 2023, and that Ms. Wayfarer understood them as concerns about ‘sexual harassment.’ This evidence also documents how Ms. Wayfarer refused to investigate and instead sought to ‘bury’ Ms. Lively and others who spoke out through retaliation.”
Taylor Swift’s team previously distanced her from Justin Baldoni’s courtroom drama Blake Lively
Previous USA on Taylor Swift could be subpoenaed in this case In a statement to TODAY, a Taylor Swift spokesperson said, “Given that her involvement was in licensing music for the film, as well as 19 other artists, this document subpoena is intended to exploit Taylor Swift’s name to generate public attention by creating tabloid clickbait, rather than focusing on the facts of the case.”
“Taylor Swift has never stepped foot on the set of this film,” the statement continued. “She was not involved in any of the casting or creative decisions. She did not score the film. She never saw the edit or wrote any notes about the film. She didn’t even see Seraph of the End until weeks after its release. She was traveling the world in 2023 and 2024 as headlining the biggest tour in history.”
In October, a judge issued a final judgment in a $400 million countersuit brought by Mr. Baldoni, Mr. Heath, Wayfarer Studios, co-founder Steve Sarowitz, crisis communications specialist Melissa Nathan, publicist Jennifer Abel and others, effectively ending the January 16 lawsuit against Ms. Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and the New York Times. Parties have the right to appeal.
The postponed trial is scheduled to begin on May 18th.
Contributor: Brian West, USA TODAY Network
