Justin Baldoni's Lawyers Claim Blake Lively Threatened To Leak Taylor Swift Texts For Public Support

Did Blake Lively really threaten former friend Taylor Swift in exchange for public support during her legal battle against Justin Baldoni?

In the latest update to the "It Ends With Us" drama, Baldoni's legal team claimed that the "Gossip Girl" alum threatened the "Anti-Hero" singer: either you give me your public support, or I release text messages that you don't want the world to see.

On May 14, the latest update in the “It Ends With Us” legal drama came when Baldoni’s legal team asserted that Lively threatened her former friend, Taylor Swift, in exchange for public support during the trial. However, a lawyer for Lively’s team calls the allegation “categorically false.”

In a letter to the judge received by PEOPLEmagazine, Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, argued why it’s necessary to subpoena Swift in the ongoing case. "The Lively Defendants' insistence that the Subpoena seeks irrelevant information is wrong," Freedman wrote, claiming that he had received a tip from a "source who is highly likely to have reliable information” about Swift’s involvement in the case.

This anonymous source alleged that Lively asked Swift to delete text messages of a “personal” nature. In the letter, Freedman alleged that Lively’s attorney contacted Swift’s attorney and “demanded that Ms. Swift release a statement of support for Ms. Lively,” as well as "intimating that if Ms. Swift refused to do so, private text messages of a personal nature in Ms. Lively's possession would be released."

Freedman claims that he was informed that if Swift’s lawyer responded to Lively’s lawyer and "addressed these inappropriate and apparently extortionate threats.” Freedman went on to say that it is “those communications” that they are trying to obtain in the subpoena, as well as potential evidence of “an attempt to intimidate and coerce a percipient witness in this litigation."

Following the news of the allegations, Lively’s attorney, Mike Gottlieb, released a statement to PEOPLE magazine, denying Freedman’s claims.

"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,” he told the publication, adding:

“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.”

After it was announced that Taylor Swift would be subpoenaed in the upcoming trial, Swift’s rep released a fiery statement distancing the singer from both Lively and the film.

"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," the singer’s rep said in a statement.

"The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, 'My Tears Ricochet,’” the statement continued. "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."

In an August 2024 interview with Gayle King on CBS Mornings, Lively seemed to admit that Swift played a role in the movie beyond just giving her permission to use the song.

"She was with me throughout this whole process. So I think that, for better or worse, she, you know, experienced the whole thing with me," Lively said at the time.

Regardless, her spokesperson slammed Freedman’s desire to get a subpoena for Swift, claiming that he was trying to turn the legal trial into “entertainment for the tabloids.”

"This is a very serious legal matter, not Barnum & Bailey’s Circus,” stated a rep for Lively. “The defendants continue to publicly intimidate, bully, shame, and attack women's rights and reputations.”

A source previously told the publication that actor Hugh Jackman could also be issued a subpoena. "Anyone that had any knowledge of this situation will be subpoenaed, no matter their celebrity status," the source warned.