It’s been almost one year since one of the most controversial movies of 2024 was released. It Ends With Us tells the story of the toxic — and sometimes abusive — relationship between Lily Bloom and Ryle Kincaid. The film was based on the novel of the same name, and from the jump, it was frequently criticized for romanticizing domestic violence.
However, it was not the film itself that generated the biggest headlines. Instead, it was the heated battle between the film’s two stars, Blake Lively (Lily) and Justin Baldoni (Ryle). And the headlines became even more intense when the two actors filed lawsuits against one another.
Related: ‘It Ends With Us’ Ends In MESSY Lawsuit
Rumors began to swirl that there was tension between Lively and Baldoni when they were not seen promoting the film together. And those rumors were seemingly confirmed when the two did not appear together on the red carpet at the film’s premiere.
Just a few months after the film’s August premiere, Blake Lively accused Justin Baldoni of sexually harassing her on the film’s set. Baldoni — who was also one of the film’s producers and the owner of the film rights — was accused of trying to kiss Lively during filming more than what was written in the script, and of also wanting to add more sex scenes without having an intimacy coordinator around.
Many of Lively’s friends and former co-stars quickly supported the actress, but Baldoni was not going to take the accusations lying down or let his reputation be destroyed.
Shortly after Blake Lively made her accusations, Baldoni was dropped by his talent agency, and his podcast co-host quit. However, he announced that he planned on suing Lively and proving his innocence.
Mr. Baldoni claimed that, despite the fact that he owned the rights to the film and was producing it, Ms. Lively wanted to take control. She even brought in an editor that she and her husband, Marvel star Ryan Reynolds, have used in the past and made her own cut of the film. Baldoni said that Lively threatened to not promote the film if they did not use her cut.
Eventually, both cuts of the film were shown to select groups, who all agreed that Baldoni’s cut was better.
Mr. Baldoni also began releasing text messages, allegedly showing Ms. Lively strong-arming with script rewrites, and actually turning down working with an intimacy coordinator that Mr. Baldoni had worked with in the past. This appears to directly contradict Ms. Lively’s claim that Mr. Baldoni refused to bring in an intimacy coordinator during filming.
One of the more interesting things that popped up during Lively and Baldoni’s public feud was Lively’s friendship with Grammy-winning superstar, Taylor Swift.
Swift and Lively have been friends for a decade. In her text messages to Baldoni, Lively compared herself to Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones and called her husband and Swift her “dragons.” Swift had also allegedly been one of the people pressuring Mr. Baldoni to agree to the changes Lively wanted to make to the It Ends With Us script.
While many of Lively’s friends and costars have spoken out in support, Swift has remained quiet on the situation. Rumors even suggested that the lawsuit had impacted their friendship.
And now, it appears that a 10-year-long friendship will be put to the ultimate test.
According to reports, Swift has been subpoenaed by Mr. Baldoni’s lawyer in the ongoing lawsuit between Baldoni and Lively. This means that she has received a court-issued document telling her that she must take the stand and testify.
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Swift’s involvement in the dueling lawsuits relates to suggestions from Blake Lively that Baldoni altered a rooftop scene at the beginning of the film. Lively invited the director to her New York City home in 2023 to discuss the script changes.
Once there, Baldoni was surprised to see Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, and close friend, Swift, according to his lawsuit, which cites communications that include the name “Taylor.” The megastars praise Lively’s version of the scene, pressuring Baldoni to accept the revisions, he alleged.
Related: Ryan Reynolds Accused of Using ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ to Attack Wife’s Costar
Shortly after news of the subpoena was made public, Ms. Swift’s lawyer bashed the document, calling it a way to “draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.”
He further said that the claims that Ms. Swift was on the set of It Ends With Us were completely false. He said that she never visited the set, never spoke with Mr. Baldoni, and never pressured him to do what Ms. Lively wanted. Further, he said that the only connection Ms. Swift had to the movie was that she gave production permission to use one of the songs in the film.
Her lawyer did not say if they were planning to challenge the subpoena.
Were you shocked to learn that Taylor Swift is being called to testify in a lawsuit between two actors? Should she be upset at Blake Lively for involving her in the fight with Justin Baldoni? Do you think the lawsuit will mean the end of their long friendship? Share your thoughts in the comments!
The post Taylor Swift Forced to Testify in Major Movie Lawsuit appeared first on Inside the Magic.
