Kansas City Chiefs superfan and pop music icon Taylor Swift has been a hot topic in the legal battle between actress friend Blake Lively and Lively's co-star in "It Ends With Us" Justin Baldoni.
In December, Lively, 37, filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, 41 - who acted and directed the film based on the Colleen Hoover novel - accusing him of sexual harassment on set and launching a retaliatory smear campaign. Baldoni responded with a $400 million defamation countersuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and her publicist, which was dismissed last week.
The latest motion in the harassment case involves the release of text messages between Lively and Swift from during the filming of the movie ... although the friends' relationship has reportedly been "strained" recently since the lawsuit has unraveled.
"Lively herself has identified Swift as someone likely to have knowledge about complaints or discussions regarding the working environment on the set of ‘It Ends With Us',” said Judge Lewis J. Liman.
Judge Liman denied "Lively's motion for a protective order" that hoped to keep the text messages private. He also challenged Lively’s team’s position that the messages would be “duplicative” after Baldoni’s lawyers withdrew their subpoena of Swift and "made public statements that they had ‘everything that they needed.'”
At this time, the messages have not been received by the opposing party, but the motion remains a win for Baldoni's camp.
When the time comes, the released text messages between Lively and Swift will only be those that are specific to the set's working environment, despite the initial language about Swift's knowledge reportedly mentioning "... other issues".
Baldoni's team was also warned about the risk of “leak[ing] the requested communications to the press,” due to a court-issued order.
Despite last week's major dismissal, Baldoni still has until June 23 to amend claims about a breach of implied covenant and tortious interference with contract.
Since being dragged into this mess, Swift has reportedly felt "wounded and scarred", being that her relationship with Lively was strictly related to leisure activities and should have never gotten to this point in their professional endeavors ... let alone legal troubles.
Earlier in their friendship, Lively and Swift have attended numerous Chiefs games together. Most notably, they were seated shoulder to shoulder at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas for Kansas City's 25-22 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
While they may not be planning many trips to watch Swift's boyfriend Travis Kelce this season, the two remain connected in the headlines as this controversial legal situation continues to unfold.