“Categorically false” - Blake Lively’s team denies actress tried to extort Taylor Swift for public support amid Justin Baldoni feud

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal battle took an unexpected turn when Justin's legal team accused the Age of Adaline star of threatening Taylor Swift. Blake Lively had met the pop star in 2015 in Australia, and since then, a public friendship has grown. Justin's legal counsel accused Blake Lively, stating that Taylor Swift was threatened in their private texts soliciting public support in the ongoing "In Ends With Us" legal drama.

Michael Gottlieb, counsel for the Lively Defendants, refuted the claims made by Justin's legal team. In a statement shared with Variety, he termed the accusation as "categorically false" and "cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources, and completely untethered from reality."

Blake Lively Named in Legal Letter Alleging Pressure on Taylor Swift:

In the ongoing legal tensions involving Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, attorneys for Baldoni responded this week to a challenge Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, raised regarding a subpoena issued to Taylor Swift's legal representatives.

The subpoena targets Venable, the firm that currently represents Swift. In a letter sent to the judge on May 14, Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, asserted that the information being sought is relevant.

"The Lively Defendants' insistence that the Subpoena seeks irrelevant information is wrong," he wrote.

Freedman based his argument on a tip from a confidential source, described in the letter as "highly likely to have reliable information." The source claims that Lively allegedly asked Swift to delete certain text messages, raising concerns about potential interference.

The letter also outlines another allegation: that Lively's attorney approached Swift's lawyer with a request for a public statement in Lively's favor. According to Freedman's account, the message conveyed that failure to comply might result in the release of "private text messages of a personal nature" that Lively allegedly possesses.

In a statement shared with PEOPLE, Blake Lively's attorney, Mike Gottlieb, issued a sharp denial in response to recent allegations.

"This is categorically false. We unequivocally deny all of these so-called allegations, which are cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources, and completely untethered from reality. 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. We will imminently file motions with the court to hold these attorneys accountable for their misconduct here.” he explained.

On May 9, reports emerged that the Blank Space singer had been subpoenaed in relation to the It Ends With Us case. Blake Lively, now 37 years old, accused her co-star, Justin Baldoni, of sexual harassment and retaliation, to which Justin strongly denied all allegations and filed a $400 million countersuit. Justin's countersuit claimed defamation and extortion.

Following subpoena reports, Swift's spokesperson issued a statement clarifying that the singer is not involved with It Ends With Us or the litigation surrounding it.

"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," shared her spokeperson.

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"The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, 'My Tears Ricochet', given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case." added her representation.

The issue is currently still in court. Watch this space for more updates!

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