A judge has ruled that Justin Baldoni is within his legal rights to access texts from Taylor Swift in relation to his ongoing legal battle against Blake Lively.
The update is a surprising one, given it’s been just over a week since the dismissal of Justin Baldoni’s defamation case against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and The New York Times.
Regardless, Judge Lewis Liman – the same judge who’s been overseeing the multiple lawsuits since the It Ends With Us legal saga kicked off – delivered the ruling on Wednesday, albeit with a strict caveat.
Lively had previously sought to to block Baldoni’s team from obtaining text exchanges between herself and Swift, claiming that the content was now irrelevant following the dismissal of Baldoni’s case. Her team also alleged that Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, had only involved Taylor Swift and her texts as a PR play.
Separate from Justin Baldoni’s thwarted attempt to subpoena Taylor Swift before his defamation case was thrown out, the judge ruled in Baldoni’s favour, stipulating that the texts must pertain to It Ends With Us.
“A motion or request may be, and in this case often has been, both a legitimate litigation tactic and an attempt to maneuver in the broader court of public opinion,” the judge wrote per Variety.
“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 ruling continued.
What Does This Mean For Blake Lively’s Case Against Baldoni?
A representative for Lively responded to the latest ruling in a statement shared with Us Weekly, that read: “The Court outright denied the Wayfarer Parties’ motion to compel documents from Ms. Lively, who has produced far more documents in this case than the Wayfarer Parties combined. Further, the Court’s protective order ruling rests on the Wayfarer Parties’ admission that they received nothing from Taylor Swift, which is exactly the opposite of what their ‘insider’ claimed two weeks ago.”
The statement continued: “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.”
The decision comes just weeks after Judge Liman granted the motion to dismiss Baldoni’s attempts to subpoena Taylor Swift in his legal battle against Lively, after his lawyer alleged the actress had threatened to release 10 years of text messages between herself and Swift, should the pop star refuse to support her publicly.
Lively and Baldoni’s legal battle began in December 2024 when the actress accused her It Ends With Us co-star of sexual harassment, creating a hostile work environment and orchestrating a calculated smear campaign against her.
Despite Justin Baldoni achieving a legal win in regards to the Taylor Swift texts, he is still staring down the barrel of a lengthy court battle with lively, which remains scheduled for March 2026.
Related articles:
- Justin Baldoni’s Lawsuit Against Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds Has Been Dismissed
- The Blake Lively Lawsuit Against Justin Baldoni, Explained
- Did Blake Lively Really Threaten Taylor Swift?
