Taylor Swift tried to 'tone down' Blake Lively years before legal troubles befell Justin Baldoni
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: According to insiders, Taylor Swift sought to help her close pal Blake Lively "tone down" her "ballsy" character years before the 'Gossip Girl' alum's legal ordeal with Justin Baldoni.
In a shocking lawsuit filed last year, Lively, 37, accused her 'It Ends with Us' co-star, 41, of sexual harassment and starting a smear campaign against her. The two are currently embroiled in a heated legal battle.
Taylor Swift attempted to counsel her pal Blake Lively about going 'full throttle'
Justin Baldoni retaliated against his 'It Ends With Us' co-star on January 16 by suing Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist for $400 million—a month after Blake Lively's shocking complaint.
According to Baldoni's lawsuit, Lively used Swift to threaten him during a meeting with her husband regarding changes she made to a scene on the rooftop.
Swift, according to Baldoni, gave him the impression that he "needed to comply with Blake's direction for the script."
Now insiders claimed that the 'Fortnight' artist tried to counsel her actress friend about going "full throttle" in the years preceding the Baldoni controversy.
"Taylor Swift admires that Blake Lively is a ballsy chick who speaks her mind, swears like a trooper and refuses to be controlled by anyone," a source told Daily Mail.
"That’s the real reason they bonded and became firm friends when they first met 10 years ago. Taylor saw her doppelganger in Blake," the source continued.
"The main difference between them is that Taylor is more subtle. Blake has always gone full-throttle about everything. She never holds back and that’s what has caused the tide to turn on her," they added.
The insider further said, "Taylor has tried to help tone Blake down in the past, but she now knows it’s never going to happen."
"Right now, while they’re still close, there’s a slight shift because of the 'It Ends With Us' drama. Taylor doesn't like the fact that she’s been dragged into it," the source concluded.
Justin Baldoni's lawyer claims Taylor Swift may be deposed in Blake Lively litigation battle
According to Justin Baldoni's attorney Bryan Freedman, the 'Tortured Poets Department' artist may be interrogated in the actor's ongoing legal dispute with Blake Lively.
Three weeks after Baldoni pulled the 'Cruel Summer' singer, 35, into his countersuit, his lawyer suggested Swift might have pertinent information that could "provide evidence" for the case, which a court has set for trial in March 2026.
"I don’t know that we’re going to depose Taylor Swift. I think that that’s going to be probably a game-time decision. I don’t know that that decision has been made," Freedman told TMZ’s 'Two Angry Men' podcast Wednesday. February 5.
"But, I can tell you this, anyone that reasonably has information that can provide evidence in this case is going to be deposed," he added.
According to Baldoni's countersuit, Swift allegedly attended a meeting between the director and the 'Gossip Girl' alum at Lively's apartment in New York City, where they discussed her revision of their film's rooftop scene.
According to Baldoni, Lively tried to intimidate him during their conversation by referring to Swift and her husband Reynolds as "absolute titans" in terms of writing and storytelling.
A source previously claimed that Swift had never intended to attend the meeting, so the "uncool and unnecessary" description came as a shock when she arrived at Lively's apartment in New York to discover it was still going on.
However, Freedman appeared to be steadfast in his assertion that he won't be "bullied" by Reynolds and Lively's court-ordered gag order and reiterated Swift's participation, stating that she was "there for that meeting."
He went one step further, speculating with hosts Harvey Levin and Mark Geragos that Lively and Reynolds would prefer to avoid Swift's involvement in the lawsuit by any means necessary.
"My assumption is they’re going to take some legal actions that are beyond the bounds of decency and we’ll see if they can try to avoid a deposition," Freedman said.
