Taylor Swift has been subpoenaed by Justin Baldoni’s lawyers in the sprawling legal battle over the filming of It Ends With Us.
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.
In a text, Lively refers to Reynolds and Swift as her “dragons.” The message reads, “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 was supportive of the changes. “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),” he wrote with a wink emoji. “You really are a talent across the board. Really excited and grateful to do this together.”
Tensions over the rewrite lead Baldoni to send Lively a six-minute-plus voice message at 2 a.m. to apologize for anything he did to upset her, according to the complaint. At the end of the recording, Baldoni says, “You probably have kids all over you and a baby on your boob, and you’re listening to me ramble at 2 in the morning.”
A spokesperson for Swift said the subpoena is a bid to “draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.” The rep, who noted that the only connection the singer has with the film is permitting the use of “My Tears Ricochet,” added “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.”
Lively and Baldoni didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
