Justin Baldoni reportedly alleged that Blake Lively and Taylor Swift‘s text messages could prove crucial in disproving lawsuit allegations. Last week, his “It Ends With Us” co-star filed a motion to block his attempts to seek and use their exchanges in the court case. Lively called his efforts a mere PR “tactic” to exploit Swift, claiming these communications were “irrelevant.” However, Baldoni’s lawyers argued the relevance in a response filing on Tuesday, weeks after dropping the subpoena to the musician.
Justin Baldoni pushing for access to Blake Lively and Taylor Swift’s text messages
Billboard reported that Justin Baldoni is pushing for access to Blake Lively and Taylor Swift’s text messages in the case’s latest update. Contrary to Lively’s claims, his lawyers alleged that these communications would prove crucial in challenging his legal adversary’s sexual harassment and smear campaign allegations.
Moreover, Baldoni’s team shifted the blame to Lively for “contemporaneously” inserting Swift into the legal dispute. They called out the “Gossip Girl” alum for using her pop star friend’s “stardom to withhold evidence.” His lawyers also maintained that her own discovery materials identified the singer as someone with knowledge of what she experienced.
Reportedly, Lively sought a “protective order” to restrict the contesting party from acquiring their messages on Friday. In her filings, she accused her co-star and his legal team of strategically devising the “tactic” to take advantage of Swift. She even questioned the relevance in connection with his claims.
The motion came weeks after a New York judge dismissed Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit against her and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. Before that, the actor-director had served two separate subpoenas to the Grammy winner and her lawyers, which he later dropped, claiming they got what they needed.
Justin Baldoni’s latest move aims to pursue these Taylor Swift messages directly from Blake Lively. On top of that, he believes this could also substantiate whether his co-star actually suffered emotional distress as she has claimed in her December lawsuit. Baldoni reportedly stated that Lively and Swift’s messages could disprove the sexual harassment and smear campaign allegations.
