Pop icon Taylor Swift has been formally subpoenaed to appear in court amid a rapidly intensifying legal showdown between actress Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. The dispute, rooted in their joint work on the movie It Ends With Us, is set to go to trial in March 2026, per ABC News.
The drama began in December 2024, when Lively filed a lawsuit accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment during the film’s production. Baldoni hit back with a staggering $400 million countersuit, charging Lively with defamation and attempted extortion.
As part of his defense, Baldoni’s lawyers introduced alleged text exchanges in which Lively name-dropped Swift and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, as powerful backers during heated disputes. One message even portrayed Lively as a “Khaleesi” with “dragons,” suggesting Swift and Reynolds would fiercely defend her.
Swift’s actual involvement in the project was minimal, limited to licensing her haunting track My Tears Ricochet for use in the trailer and a key scene, per The People.
According to her spokesperson, Swift had zero input in casting, script decisions, or any creative process, and only watched the film once it was completed.
Her camp has slammed the subpoena, calling it a blatant attempt to leverage Swift’s “high-profile name” for PR.
The scandal has cast a shadow over the once-close friendship between Swift and Lively. While some insiders report a distance between the two, others claim Swift still supports Lively behind the scenes.
