A judge has ruled in Justin Baldoni‘s favour in the latest development in his case involving Taylor Swift, Blake Lively and the film It Ends With Us.
A New York judge has ruled the 41-year-old actor’s legal team is allowed to have access to messages between Lively, 37, and Swift, 35, deeming them “relevant” to the case.
Judge Lewis L. Liman wrote in a June 18 order: “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,” as obtained and reported by E! News.
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“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.”
It comes with the condition that a protective order has to be placed on any of the celebrity friend’s correspondence to prevent leaks to the press.
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One month ago, Baldoni and his team tried to subpoena the superstar to speak on the case, claiming she was used by Lively to leverage more creative control over the film.
While Baldoni directed the film, Lively was a producer on the project.
After the request was filed, Swift’s spokesperson released a scathing statement saying: “Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.”
Following Swift’s response, Baldoni and his legal team withdrew the subpoena request.
This new development comes one week after a judge dismissed Baldoni’s $400 million (AUD$613 million) defamation lawsuit against Hollywood power couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, which the Gossip Girl actress claimed in a statement was “a total victory and a complete vindication.”
However, Baldoni was still able to file an amended complaint against Reynolds and Lively on the allegations of tortious interference with contract, and against Lively individually on the allegations of breach of implied covenant, which he confirmed he would do in a statement one day after the dismissal.
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“The Court has invited us to amend four out of the seven claims against Ms. Lively, which will showcase additional evidence and refined allegations,” Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, responded in a statement to CNN.
“This case is about false accusations of sexual harassment and retaliation and a nonexistent smear campaign,” the statement continued.
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“With the facts on our side, we march forward with the same confidence that we had when Ms. Lively and her cohorts initiated this battle and look forward to her forthcoming deposition, which I will be taking.”
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