NEED TO KNOW
Lively’s extension to Oct. 10 was granted
Taylor Swift is unlikely to be deposed in Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal battle after all.
Lewis J. Liman, the U.S. District judge overseeing the case, Blake Lively v. Wayfarer Studios LLC, et al., declined Baldoni’s request for a 30-day extension of the discovery cut-off date, Sept. 30 (Lively’s extension request to Oct. 10 was granted). The court announced its decision on Friday, Sept. 12, per documents obtained by PEOPLE.
Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman had asked for the extra time to depose Swift, who he claimed in a Sept. 11 letter to Judge Liman was willing to do so. He wrote that the “Bad Blood” singer “has agreed to appear for deposition, but couldn’t until Oct. 20 due to her “preexisting professional obligations.”
But Swift — who is releasing her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, on Oct. 3 — did not agree to a deposition, an attorney for the superstar fired back in a letter the same day.
“My client did not agree to a deposition, but if she is forced into a deposition, we advised (after first hearing about the deposition just three days ago) that her schedule would accommodate the time required during the week of October 20 if the parties were able to work out their disputes. We take no role in those disputes,” the attorney wrote.
Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, her It Ends with Us costar and director, as well as his Wayfarer Studios colleagues, publicist and crisis PR team last December. She alleged that she experienced sexual harassment and was the victim of a retaliatory smear campaign after she spoke up about it, which they deny.
Swift — whose song “My Tears Ricochet” is featured in the film — first had her name dragged into the case when Baldoni filed a $400 million countersuit against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, alleging defamation and extortion. (Judge Liman dismissed that suit in June.)
In court documents, Baldoni claimed that he was pressured into accepting one of Lively’s suggested rewrites for the movie during a meeting with Swift, 35, Reynolds, 48, after he was “summoned” to Lively and Reynolds’s penthouse in New York City.
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During a text exchange with Baldoni following the meeting, Lively allegedly referenced HBO’s Game of Thrones and referred to Reynolds and Swift as her “dragons.”
Baldoni’s lawyers also subpoenaed Swift in May, a move a rep for Swift slammed at the time.
“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 rep said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
The subpoena was withdrawn the same month.
