Taylor Swift and Blake Lively are close. Like, close close. Swift is the godmother to not one but all three of Lively’s daughters, and the children are all namedropped in one of Swift’s songs from her album Folklore. Blake Lively has directed one of Taylor Swift’s music videos. They go on an annual friend holiday on the 4th of July every year. And Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, once told an interviewer of Swift, “I would do anything for that woman.”
So why haven’t the card-carrying, friendship bracelet-baring besties been seen together since October 2024? According to some sources, it’s due to Blake Lively’s legal battle with Justin Baldoni and the It Ends With Us cast drama that has been ongoing since summer 2024.
In case you missed it: Lively is currently at war with her former director and co-star, Justin Baldoni. The pair came to blows during the production of It Ends With Us over a series of alleged issues. Lively has accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and an organised smear campaign to tarnish her reputation, and Baldoni has accused Lively of defamation. Both deny the respective allegations.
One of the other claims made by Baldoni’s legal team concerns Lively’s alleged rewrites on a scene from It Ends With Us. During the 2023 production process, Baldoni says he arrived at a location to work on a rewrite of a scene with Blake Lively, only to find that Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Swift were also present.
Following the meeting, where Lively allegedly pressured Baldoni to accept her version of the script, he claims that she texted him, saying: “If you ever get around to watching Game of Thrones, you'll appreciate that I'm Khaleesi, and like her, I happen to have a few dragons. For better or worse, but usually better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for.”
Baldoni claims that he responded: “I really love what you did. It really does help a lot. Makes it so much more fun and interesting. (And I would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor). You really are a talent across the board. Really excited and grateful to do this together.”
But Taylor Swift is apparently displeased with her name being raised in the lawsuit. Especially since it started to look like Swift may be subpoenaed, or summoned to court, as part of the case.
Last week, representatives for Swift criticised the court summons and made it clear that the pop star’s only involvement in the film was permitting the use of her song, My Tears Ricochet. They also note that she was among 20 total artists featured in the film.
According to her representatives, 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, [and] she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film”, they said.
They added that Swift did not even watch It Ends With Us until "weeks after its release" as she was "travelling around the globe" on the Eras tour at the time of its release.
The representatives argued that the subpoena "designed to use Taylor Swift's name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case".
This hubbub has apparently led to the cooling of Blake Lively and Taylor Swift’s friendship, with a source telling Us Weekly: “Taylor has always been Blake’s friend, but Taylor doesn’t have any involvement in the case. She wasn’t part of the movie. Taylor was not a producer on the film and had no creative involvement. While she and Blake are friends, this case is now a legal matter for the courts to resolve. Dragging Taylor into it is unnecessary and misrepresents what really happened.”
Us Weekly also reported that the stars’ “friendship is not what it used to be” and that they've stopped chatting on a regular basis, according to a source. When they “have talked … it's strained,” the source added.
But with Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s court date not until March 2026, there’s plenty of time for the besties to resolve any bad blood between them.
