Blake Lively and Taylor Swift's private messages can be seen by Justin Baldoni's legal team amid ongoing court battle

Lively is suing the It Ends With Us director and actor, accusing Baldoni of creating a hostile working environment while on the set of the 2024 romance-drama. Baldoni has denied Lively’s claims and had filed his own countersuit against the actress for defamation, but this was recently dismissed by Judge Lewis L. Liman.

However, Judge Liman has now ruled that messages between Lively and her close friend Taylor Swift discussing the environment on the set of the film are relevant to Lively’s lawsuit and can be seen by Baldoni’s legal team. According to E! News, Judge Liman wote: “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.

"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."

However, the messages will not be released publicly, with a protective order placed on them to avoid any leaks.

It comes after Baldoni’s team attempted to subpoena Swift in May to gain access to the messages, with Swift’s legal team labelling the pursuit an "unwarranted fishing expedition". Lively also attempted to dissuade the pursuit of the messages during the discovery process in the legal battle.

Baldoni had claimed that Lively had used her famous friend, as well as her A-lister husband Ryan Reynolds, as leverage in order to gain more creative control on the set of It Ends With Us. Swift’s team previously said that the singer-songwriter was “not involved in any casting or creative decisions” and Baldoni’s team withdrew the subpoena order.

After his countersuit was dismissed, Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman told Us Weekly: “While the Court dismissed the defamation-related claims, the Court has invited us to amend four out of the seven claims against Ms. Lively, which will showcase additional evidence and refined allegations. This case is about false accusations of sexual harassment and retaliation and a nonexistent smear campaign, which Ms. Lively’s own team conveniently describes as ‘untraceable’ because they cannot prove what never happened.”

After the dismissal, Lively took to Instagram to comment on the situation, saying: "Like so many others, I’ve felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us.

"While the suit against me was defeated, so many don’t have the resources to fight back. I’m more resolved than ever to continue to stand for every woman’s right to have a voice in protecting themselves, including their safety, their integrity, their dignity and their story."