How Taylor Swift went from being Blake Lively’s defensive ‘dragon’ to a ‘distanced’ friendship
When Blake Lively felt the filming of her movie “It Ends With Us” was going off the rails — amid clashes with her director and co-star, Justin Baldoni — the actress enlisted the support of her bestie Taylor Swift.
And, newly released private messages reveal, it may have ruined their friendship.
“It’s felt like I was reading a mass corporate email sent to 200 employees,” Swift told Lively in December 2024 after apparent constant complaints about the situation with Baldoni, which devolved into a shocking lawsuit weeks later.
Lively, 38, has accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy, among other claims. (Baldoni has denied these claims.)
Blake Lively leaned on longtime friend Taylor Swift for support when “It Ends With Us” filming went off the rails, and it may have strained their friendship, a trove of newly released text messages, allegedly between the pair, reveal.GC Images
“It Ends With Us” began filming in May 2023, four years after Justin Baldoni (above with Blake Lively), optioned Colleen Hoover’s hit novel.GC Images
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The messages — some of them sounding like mean-girl missives — were made public Tuesday in an unsealed court deposition that claimed they were between Lively and Swift.
The movie began filming in May 2023, four years after Baldoni, now 41, optioned Colleen Hoover’s hit novel. But Lively was apparently already annoyed by him before cameras started rolling.
“If you get here w this doofus director of my movie is still here (I’ll be ushering him out, but hope he’s still here) can you do me a huge favor. I need help with him,” Lively wrote Swift in an April 12, 2023, text exchange.
According to the new court documents, the actress drafted Swift, 36, to be a cheerleader for her revision of the “It Ends With Us” script — allegedly, without having read it — during a meeting with Baldoni at the Tribeca home she shares with husband Ryan Reynolds.
According to the new court documents, Lively drafted Swift to be a cheerleader for her revision of the “It Ends With Us” script — allegedly, without the singer having read it.GC Images
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“I’ll do anything for you!!” Swift — the godmother of the couple’s daughters — replied.
Afterward, Lively praised the singer and dissed Baldoni again: “You were so epically heroic today. You making s–t up about me and lenses. And referring to yourself as my doll. This clown falling for all of it … You are the world’s absolute greatest friend ever.”
According to a defamation countersuit filed by Baldoni (and eventually dismissed), he claimed he told Lively that he liked her rewrite — and would have even if she hadn’t enlisted Swift and Reynolds’ support.
“If you ever get around to watching Game of Thrones, you’ll appreciate that I’m Khaleesi, and like her, I happen to have a few dragons. For better or worse, but usually for better…” she texted him, according to a filing from Baldoni’s lawsuit.
Lively praised Swift for her support on the “It Ends With Us” script edits, and dissed Baldoni, telling the “Cruel Summer” singer: “You were so epically heroic today … You are the world’s absolute greatest friend ever.”©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
By April, Swift had upped her support for Lively. As the two messaged about using Swift’s song “My Tears Ricochet” in a trailer for the film, Swift, according to the deposition document, wrote: ‘If Justin was strategic he would be like no Taylor swift in the trailer because that gives you more power over the film, that’s your ally not his.’”
Before the movie was released in August 2024, multiple sources told Page Six that Baldoni had made Lively feel “uncomfortable” on set. The pair avoided each other at the Manhattan premiere.
Meanwhile, Lively was soon planning to take action against her co-star — and it was apparently her main topic of conversation.
In a tense-sounding Dec. 4, 2024, correspondence between Swift and Lively, revealed in the new court documents, the actress wrote:
Before “It Ends With Us” was released in August 2024, multiple sources told Page Six that Baldoni had made Lively feel “uncomfortable” on set. The pair avoided each other at the Manhattan premiere.GC Images
In a tense, Dec. 4, 2024, correspondence between Swift and Lively, revealed in the new court documents, the actress wrote: “Hey, just checking in. I have no reason to ask, but I donno, l’ve been feeling like I should… is everything ok? I felt like a bad friend lately because was such a sad sack who only talked about my own s–t for months.”Instagram/blakelively
“Hey, just checking in. I have no reason to ask, but I donno, l’ve been feeling like I should… is everything ok? I felt like a bad friend lately because was such a sad sack who only talked about my own s–t for months.”
Lively told the “Lover” singer that she had a feeling “something may not be right.”
Swift replied: “No you’re not wrong, but it’s also not a big deal,” noting she had been feeling “a little bit of a shift” in their friendship.
“Yes there has been a lot of the Justin stuff but I’ve been through things like this before and I know how all consuming it is,” Swift said. “It’s more like.. and I feel really bad saying anything about this because your texts have been so nice in their intent but your last few … it’s felt like I was reading a mass corporate email sent to 200 employees.”
