The drama surrounding It Ends With Us has officially entered its most surreal chapter yet, one where a federal judge has signed off on letting Justin Baldoni’s lawyers comb through private texts between Blake Lively and Taylor Swift.
Yes, really.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman ruled that only messages “reasonably tailored” to the ongoing legal battle over the 2024 adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestseller are fair game. Specifically, any texts involving Swift’s knowledge of Lively’s allegations against Baldoni—ranging from on-set harassment to retaliation—can now be reviewed by the defense.
BREAKING: Judge Liman has DENIED Blake Lively’s motion for a protective order on her communications with Taylor Swift.
— Lauren Neidigh (@LethalLauren904) June 18, 2025
This ruling arrives just weeks after Lively dropped two key emotional distress claims from her lawsuit, an apparent move to sidestep Baldoni’s request for access to her private therapy notes. Her team framed it as a strategic decision to “streamline” the case and concentrate on the central allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation.
Still, Lively maintains she experienced emotional distress and is seeking significant damages. Baldoni’s side pushed to have the dropped claims dismissed with prejudice—blocking them from being refiled—but her team declined.
A spokesperson for Lively fired back in a statement, accusing Baldoni of “relentlessly trying to exploit Ms. Swift’s popularity” to sway public opinion. “This has always been a strategy to weaponize Swift’s fanbase,” the rep said.
And while Baldoni’s side briefly tried to subpoena Swift last month—she contributed a track, “My Tears Ricochet,” to the film’s soundtrack alongside 19 other artists—the move was widely criticized as a publicity stunt. The subpoena was quietly dropped days later.
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Swift, notably the godmother of one of Lively’s daughters, has remained silent. The two haven’t been seen in public together since the lawsuits went nuclear in late 2024. For fans of the famously tight-knit duo, the lack of interaction has not gone unnoticed.
In the age of stan culture and parasocial relationships, this case is playing out like fan fiction with real-world stakes. On Reddit and TikTok, Swifties are dissecting every move.
One Reddit user speculated, “I am guessing that whatever is on those Taylor/Blake texts is bad for Blake… if those texts were really just Blake venting to her friend, I’d think they’d be cool with handing them over because it helps their case.”
Blake is fighting tooth and nail to hide her texts with Taylor. What’s in those texts?
byu/ytmustang inItEndsWithLawsuits
The defamation countersuit Baldoni filed against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and The New York Times was tossed last week, but the March 2026 trial still looms large. And now, with Swift’s private texts pulled into the fray, the internet’s most-watched courtroom drama just got even more combustible.
