Blake Lively's Request To Keep Taylor Swift Texts Private In Justin Baldoni Case DENIED

Justin Baldoni has been granted legal access to certain text messages between Blake Lively and Taylor Swift. A federal judge denied a request from Lively's attorneys to keep her texts with Swift private in the actress' ongoing lawsuit with Baldoni. In a filing obtained by NBC News on June 18, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman reportedly explained in his ruling that only messages pertaining to Lively and Baldoni's movie "It Ends with Us" are permissible in the case. "Given that Lively has represented that Swift had knowledge of complaints or discussions about the working environment on the film, among other issues, the requests for messages with Swift regarding the film and this action are reasonably tailored to discover information that would prove or disprove Lively’s harassment and retaliation claims," the judge wrote, per NBC News. Lively's team slammed the decision in a statement, claiming that Baldoni has been attempting to "drag" Swift into the case since 2024. "We will continue to call out Baldoni’s relentless efforts to exploit Ms. Swift’s popularity, which from day one has been nothing more than a distraction from the serious sexual harassment and retaliation accusations he and the Wayfarer parties are facing," the statement continued. Neither Baldoni nor Swift had publicly responded to the latest development as of June 19. A rep for Swift previously blasted Baldoni's now-withdrawn subpoena for the music superstar, sharing in May why they don't believe there's justifiable reason to involve her in the drama at all. Judge Liman's newest ruling comes days after he dismissed Baldoni's $400 defamation countersuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and their PR team, as well as his $250 million libel lawsuit against the New York Times. Lively first sued Baldoni in late 2024, accusing him of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior that allegedly took place during the production of "It Ends with Us." The actress has also claimed that he was involved in an alleged smear campaign to tarnish her reputation. The "Jane the Virgin" alum has denied all allegations.