Taylor Swift Could End Up 'Hostile Witness' After Texts Surface in Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively Battle
Pop superstar Taylor Swift has found herself in the middle of the Justin Baldoni-Blake Lively legal mess, despite trying to distance from it, a new report says.
According to TMZ, citing an anonymous source, Swift "will 100% be called as a witness by Baldoni if the case goes to trial." In addition, Swift could be declared a "hostile witness," at the request of Baldoni's legal team, according to TMZ, which alleged that Swift "had a bias against Baldoni, so his lawyer, Bryan Freedman, can really put her on the hot seat by asking leading questions."
That's the fallout from the emergence of alleged texts between Swift and actress Blake Lively discussing Baldoni and the film, It Ends With Us.According to Page Six, Swift is accused of texting Lively, referring to Baldoni, “I think this b**** knows something is coming because he’s gotten out his tiny violin."
Swift has tried to distance herself from the drama, with her rep previously telling Page Six, "Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film, she did not even see ‘It Ends With Us’ until weeks after its public release, and was traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history."
In the Texts, Blake Lively Is Accused of Calling Justin Baldoni a 'Clown' & 'Doofus'
According to People, the texts were unsealed during the contentious legal battle between Baldoni and Lively. However, whether Swift would be called as a hostile witness would depend on a judge and whether the case goes to trial.
"When the attorney calling the witness finds that the answers are contrary to the legal position of his/her client or the witness becomes openly antagonistic, the attorney may request the judge to declare the witness to be 'hostile' or 'adverse,'" Law.com explains of the legal concept.
"If the judge declares the witness to be hostile (i.e. adverse), the attorney may ask 'leading' questions which suggest answers or are challenging to the testimony just as on cross examination of a witness who has testified for the opposition."
In the texts, Lively allegedly called Baldoni “this doofus director of my movie” and described him as “a clown” who “thinks he’s a writer now," according to People.
According to People, Baldoni's lawyers allege that Lively wanted Swift to endorse a new version of the movie's script without reading it.
Taylor Swift Is Accused of Responding, 'I'll Do Anything for You!!'
"I'll do anything for you !!" Swift is accused of responding, leading Lively to tell Swift that she was "so epically heroic today."
"I kept remembering stuff- You making s--- up about me and lenses. And referring to yourself as my doll. This clown falling for all of it. But also resisting it. You are the worlds absolute greatest friend ever," Lively allegedly wrote to Swift, according to People.
People noted that Lively's attorneys have argued the texts do not provide the entire context, including Lively saying that she “sent Taylor the script on her way to my apartment because Justin was still there, and I asked her to read them. I told her she didn’t have to, I didn’t want her to feel pressured to do that, but I hoped that she would.”
Baldoni's lawyers also allege that Lively called Baldoni a "chaotic clown" to actor Ben Affleck, according to Page Six.
Swift's rep told People, “The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, ‘My Tears Ricochet,'" accusing Baldoni of bringing up Swift “to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.”