Taylor Swift ‘feels used’ by pal Blake Lively after the singer was dragged into the It Ends With Us lawsuits with Justin Baldoni, per a new report.
Swift, 35, became embroiled in the explosive legal feud between Lively, 37, and Baldoni, 41, when he claimed in his lawsuit his costar used Swift to intimidate him at a meeting with her husband Ryan Reynolds about edits she had made to a rooftop scene in their film, It Ends with Us.
In his $400 million lawsuit, filed last month, Baldoni said Swift showed up and made him feel like he ‘needed to comply with Blake’s direction for the script’.
Lively compared herself to Game of Thrones character Khaleesi in a series of text messages to Baldoni in which she referred to Reynolds, 48, and her best friend as her ‘dragons’.
Now it has been claimed Swift ‘resents’ Lively for ‘calling her one of her dragons and leveraging her name’, with a source claiming to TMZ that she was blindsided over the meeting with Baldoni.
The source claimed Swift came to Lively’s apartment when she was told by the actress and had ‘no idea’ that Baldoni would be there.
Taylor Swift ‘feels used’ by pal Blake Lively after the singer was dragged into the It Ends With Us lawsuits with Justin Baldoni, per a new report
Swift, 35, became embroiled in the legal feud between Lively, 37, and Baldoni , 41, when he claimed his costar used Swift to intimidate him at a meeting with her husband Ryan Reynolds about edits she had made to a rooftop scene in their film, It Ends with Us (pictured in 2024)
The source said Baldoni was about to leave after the two hour meeting when Swift walked in and was introduced to him for the ‘first and only time.’
Swift told Baldoni how excited she was to see the movie ‘because he was her friend’s boss’ according to the source.
They also claim Swift believes Lively ‘timed’ her meeting with Baldoni so she would arrive before he left.
Swift was also said to be ‘baffled’ by Lively calling her a ‘dragon’ adding: ‘It’s weird to say that about a friend.’
It was further claimed by the source that Swift has learned Lively has been ‘inappropriately leveraging her name for a long time, like telling a young actress that Taylor “cast her,” which simply did not happen.’
DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Taylor Swift, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni for comment.
This comes after insiders claimed Swift tried to help her close friend Lively ‘tone down’ her ‘ballsy’ nature years before the actress’ legal roller coaster with Baldoni.
The Gossip Girl alum is currently locked in a bitter battle with her It Ends With Us co-star whom she accused of sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign against her in a bombshell lawsuit last year.
Now it has been claimed Swift ‘resents’ Lively for ‘calling her one of her dragons and leveraging her name’, with a source claiming to TMZ that she was blindsided over the meeting with Baldoni (pictured February 2024)
Swift was also said to be ‘baffled’ by Lively calling her a ‘dragon’ adding: ‘It’s weird to say that about a friend’
Baldoni now countersuing both Lively and her husband Reynolds for $400 million, and shocked the world when he dragged Swift into the explosive legal feud.
The messy spat between Lively and Baldoni has seen her past behavior come under scrutiny as the public casts judgement with each new update.
Insiders claim Swift had tried to advise her pal about going ‘full throttle’ in the years before the saga.
‘Taylor Swift admires that Blake Lively is a ballsy chick who speaks her mind, swears like a trooper and refuses to be controlled by anyone,’ a source told DailyMail.com.
‘That’s the real reason they bonded and became firm friends when they first met 10 years ago.’
They continued: ‘Taylor saw her doppelgänger in Blake. The main difference between them is that Taylor is more subtle. Blake has always gone full throttle about everything. She never holds back and that’s what has caused the tide to turn on her.
‘Taylor has tried to help tone Blake down in the past, but she now knows it’s never going to happen.’
They finished: ‘Right now, while they’re still close, there’s a slight shift because of the It Ends With Us drama. Taylor doesn’t like the fact that she’s been dragged into it.’
The idea of Swift pulling back came as a shock to fans of the pair who have been friends for a decade, celebrating milestones together, with Swift even name dropping Lively’s children in her music.
In fact, the singer’s music became a part of the legal back and forth after Baldoni claimed in the lawsuit Lively leveraged her friendship with the Grammy-winner to get her way behind the scenes.
According to Baldoni’s lawsuit, Lively threatened to withhold approval of the film trailer if she did not get extra time working on a cut of the movie with her own personal editor.
He claimed in the suit that the actress threatened to ‘change her mind’ about reaching out to Swift to secure the use of her hit 2020 track My Tears Ricochet.
The track, which is from Taylor’s folklore album, was eventually used in the trailer but Baldoni alleged that Lively tried to use her friendship with the singer to make sure her demands were met.
An alleged text exchange with a Sony executive read: ‘Blake is calling Taylor to approve the song. She of course just reached out saying she is asking for time with [REDACTED] her editor. We know it was conditional on signing contract – but asking if you will reconsider – so [REDACTED] can release this trailer and Blake does not change her me re calling Taylor Swift.’
Baldoni noted that they agreed to her demands in order to move forward as planned. The exchange allegedly took place in May 2024.
Swift appeared to rally around Lively when rumor of a troubling rift between the actress and Baldoni first started bubbling by August.
She was pictured arriving at Swift’s Rhode Island property, taking solace at the $17 million, eight bedroom estate alongside her husband Reynolds, to escape the frenzy.
At the time Lively was being called out for her ‘tone deaf’ marketing, apparently dismissing interview questions about domestic violence – a major theme in the movie – in favour of telling people to grab their ‘florals’ and head to the cinema.
Others accused her of using the attention to plug her alcohol brand Betty Booze.
Resurfaced interviews showing the actress being ‘rude’ to reporters also went viral on social media.
The singer’s music became a part of the legal back and forth after Baldoni claimed Lively leveraged her friendship with the Grammy-winner to get her own way behind the scenes
Baldoni claimed Lively threatened to ‘change her mind’ about reaching out to Swift to secure the use of her hit 2020 track My Tears Ricochet
Swift appeared to rally around Lively when rumor of a troubling rift between the actress and Baldoni first started bubbling by August (pictured 2023)
Lively and Swift were last pictured together in October on a double date with Deadpool actor Reynolds and Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce in Manhattan.
The outing came two months before she filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department in which she accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and creating a toxic environment on the set of It Ends with Us.
At the same time, the New York Times released a story based on her legal filing that accused him of orchestrating a smear campaign against her.
Swift was then pulled into the roller coaster saga when Baldoni fired back with a stinging counter suit against Lively and Reynolds in which he accused the Hollywood couple of conspiring to trash his reputation.
It Ends with Us was a box-office hit, earning $351 million worldwide despite a $25 million budget.
Based on the best-selling novel by Colleen Hoover, no update has been made about an adaptation of the sequel book, It Starts with Us.
Baldoni, Lively and the NYT have all denied the claims levelled against them.
