Justin Baldoni scores minor victory against Blake Lively as judge rules actor can obtain “relevant” Taylor Swift messages

The judge has ruled in favor of Justin Baldoni in the actor and director's legal battle against his co-star from It Ends With Us, Blake Lively. On June 18, Judge Lewis J. Liman, who is presiding over the lawsuit filed by Lively against Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios, denied the Gossip Girl actress’ request for a protective order to keep her communications with Taylor Swift regarding the working environment private.

In court documents obtained by various media outlets, Judge Liman, while denying Lively’s motion, wrote,

“Lively’s motion is rooted in the broader concern that the Wayfarer Parties are using demands for communications with Swift not ‘to obtain information relevant to claims and defenses in court, but to prop up a public relations narrative outside of court.’ But this concern does not justify denying the Wayfarer Parties relevant discovery.”

Lively has accused Baldoni of s*xual harassment and retaliation during the production of It Ends With Us, also claiming that the director and producer launched a ‘smear campaign’ against her after she complained about the film’s working environment. The denial of Lively’s motion to keep her messages with Swift private comes as Judge Liman also observed,

“Lively herself has identified Swift as someone likely to have knowledge about complaints or discussions regarding the working environment on the set of It Ends With Us…Given that Lively has represented that Swift had knowledge of complaints or discussions about the working environment on the film, among other issues, the requests for messages with Swift regarding the film and this action are reasonably tailored to discover information that would prove or disprove Lively’s harassment and retaliation claims.”

The Judge also referred to an order that guards against leaks in Blake Lively’s case against Justin Baldoni

While denying Blake Lively’s motion in her legal conflict against Justin Baldoni, the Judge also clarified that if Lively and her legal team are concerned that her private messages with Swift might be leaked to the press by Justin Baldoni’s team, a protective order issued previously prevents sensitive documents from being publicly leaked. The Judge continued,

"If the issue is that the Wayfarer Parties may leak the requested communications to the press, this concern is addressed by the Protective Order issued by the Court…That order was designed precisely to ensure that parties may share sensitive information that may be 'only tangentially related[] to the underlying cause of action' without fear that it will be leaked to the press.”

Earlier in March, Lively filed for a protective order to guard against leaks of private communications with her friends. At the time, the motion was granted, and it was deemed that all private communications, as well as medical, mental health documents, and “the identity and nature of personal relationships” would be restricted to “attorneys’ eyes only,” as per Page Six.

Blake Lively’s representative slammed Justin Baldoni's team’s efforts to gain access to the actress’ communications with Taylor Swift

While commenting on the Judge’s denial of Blake Lively’s request not to share her messages with Taylor Swift, with Justin Baldoni’s legal team, a representative for Lively told People Magazine,

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“We will continue to call out Baldoni’s relentless efforts to exploit Ms Swift’s popularity, which from day one has been nothing more than a distraction from the serious sexual harassment and retaliation accusations he and the Wayfarer parties are facing.”

Lively’s representative also claimed that Baldoni’s team’s efforts to allegedly target Swift have been ongoing since August 2024, when the pop star was allegedly mentioned in communications with Justin Baldoni’s PR head, Melissa Nathan.

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