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The ongoing legal dispute between Blake Lively and her "It Ends with Us" director and co-star, Justin Baldoni (pictured below), continues to escalate. Baldoni previously claimed that Lively, a producer on the film, leveraged her friendship with superstar Taylor Swift by asking her for revision notes, allegedly using Swift's influence to pressure him into making changes. Now, Swift, who has remained publicly silent on the matter, is being drawn even deeper into the controversy.
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Last week, reports surfaced that Swift had been subpoenaed to provide testimony. However, her spokesperson quickly refuted the claim, stressing that Swift had no part in creative decisions, offered no feedback, and only saw the finished film after its release. Her only connection to the project was licensing her song "my tears ricochet" for the soundtrack. The spokesperson added that the person who leaked the story was simply chasing traffic. Lively's representative also released a statement last week, slamming the move as a tactic by Baldoni's legal team to sensationalize the lawsuit.
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But the statements from Swift and Lively's camps did not stop Baldoni's team from pressing forward. In a new court filing, Baldoni's attorneys made a fresh allegation, claiming to have reliable information that Lively privately pressured Swift to release a public statement supporting her in the legal battle. If she refused, Lively allegedly threatened to leak years of their private messages. The filing also claims Swift's lawyers have already dealt with what they considered to be extortionist threats.
Following the filing, Lively's team immediately requested the judge strike the documents from the record, a motion that was granted. The judge ruled that the claims were irrelevant to the case and were an attempt to inflame the public with unsubstantiated information implying blackmail. A spokesperson for Lively later told the media that the judge threw out Baldoni's lawyers' allegations within 24 hours and warned that they could face court sanctions if they continue to make such improper claims.
via： Just Jared