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Justin Baldoni's chief lawyer, Bryan Freedman, has released a signed affidavit claiming that a source "very closely" linked to Taylor Swift told him about Blake Lively allegedly blackmailing the singer. Freedman's letter came in response to Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, filing a motion to dismiss the subpoena against Swift on May 14.
On May 15, Bryan Freedman sent a signed affidavit to the court, explaining why Taylor Swift was subpoenaed in the ongoing legal battle between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively. He also claimed that a source close to the singer revealed to him that she was being blackmailed by Lively.
"On February 14, 2025, I received a voicemail from a person very closely linked to Taylor Swift, whom I subsequently called back the same day. Out of respect for the individual in question, I am not identifying them at this time; however, should the Court direct me to do so, I will comply with the Court's order," Freedman said in his letter.
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In the letter, Bryan Freedman further claimed he shared a one-hour phone call with Taylor Swift's counsel from Venable LLP, J. Douglas Baldridge. He told him that Blake Lively's lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, asked Swift to "make a social media statement in support of Ms. Lively." He added,
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"If Ms. Swift failed to do so, Ms. Lively would release "ten years" of private texts with Ms. Swift. The individual also told me that they had been informed that Mr. Baldridge had accused Mr. Gottlieb of extortion and ended the call."
Freedman alleged in his affidavit that in the same call, he was informed of Blake Lively asking Taylor Swift to delete her text messages. He explained the reason behind sending a subpoena to Swift's legal firm, Venable LLP, and wrote:
"On a later call with the same individual, the individual told me that Mr. Baldridge had sent a written communication to Mr. Gottlieb relating to their phone conversation. My office issued a subpoena to Venable LLP for the purpose of seeking the aforementioned written communication."
Bryan Freedman also swore under "penalty of perjury pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746" that the aforementioned information was true.
Interestingly, irrespective of the claims made in Freedman's letter, on May 15, Blake Lively won her motion to strike accusations of her allegedly blackmailing Taylor Swift.
These latest developments came after Taylor Swift was officially subpoenaed in the Justin Baldoni vs Blake Lively legal drama. The pop star's reps immediately released a scathing statement denying any involvement of hers in the matter. Lively's team also slammed Baldoni's team for subpoenaing Swift and filed a motion to quash the subpoena.
Blake Lively slams Justin Baldoni's lawyer over claims of her trying to blackmail Taylor Swift
Following Justin Baldoni's lawyer's allegations, Blake Lively's attorney, Michael Gottlieb, issued a statement denying all such allegations. On May 14, he said in a statement,
"This is categorically false. We unequivocally deny all of these so-called allegations, which are cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources, and completely untethered from reality. The apparent intent of the Freedman Letter is to launder scandalous and defamatory allegations about Ms. Lively and opposing counsel into the press by abusing the Court’s docket."
On May 15, Blake Lively enjoyed a victory in her legal battle with Justin Baldoni. She won her motion to strike claims of her allegedly blackmailing Taylor Swift, with Judge Liman signing off on her motion to strike such allegations. A spokesperson for Blake Lively said,
"It took the court less than 24 hours to see through Mr. Freedman’s irrelevant, improper and inflammatory accusations, strike them, remove them from the court and warn Mr. Freedman that further misconduct may be met with sanctions."
The judge also ruled that the purpose of the Freedman’s letter was to "promote public scandal by advancing inflammatory accusations, on information and belief, against Lively and her counsel" by insinuating that the actress's team tried to "extort" a well-known figure like Swift.
However, Justin Baldoni's subpoena issued to Taylor Swift continues to stand, which means the singer will be expected to testify in court when the case goes on trial.
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift's team has denied the singer's involvement in anything related to Justin Baldoni's film It Ends With Us. Her team mentioned that the pop star's only association with the film was because she permitted the use of one of her songs, My Tears Ricochet, in the film.
For a quick recap, Blake Lively's legal battle with Justin Baldoni began when the actress accused her director and co-star of sexual harassment, inappropriate workplace behavior, and orchestrating a smear campaign against her.
Justin Baldoni denied all her allegations and filed a $400 million counter lawsuit against Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. In his filing, Baldoni alleged that Taylor Swift had a role to play in coercing him to accept certain rewrites of scenes by Lively in the film. It also included various alleged text messages where Lively seemingly referred to Swift and Reynolds as her "dragons."
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are set to face each other in court in March 2026.
