Taylor Swift was confronted by Blake Lively about the rift that drove their friendship apart, newly unsealed text messages that were submitted as evidence in court reveal.
The 36-year-old pop star and the 38-year-old Gossip Girl star had previously been reported to have grown apart amid Lively’s bruising legal battle with her It Ends With Us costar and director, Justin Baldoni.
And text messages unsealed on Monday, January 20, confirm that Swift and Lively openly discussed the negative ‘shift’ in their relationship that was brought on by Lively’s sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni and the defamation countersuit he filed against her, according to E! News.
Baldoni has denied all of Lively’s claims against him, and Baldoni’s lawsuit against Lively was dismissed.
The text messages that appeared in court papers also show the two longtime pals trying to restore their friendship after Swift complained that Lively’s communications with her had started to resemble a ‘mass corporate email’.
The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Swift and Lively for comment.
Taylor Swift was confronted by Blake Lively about the rift that drove their friendship apart, according to text messages unsealed on Tuesday as part of Lively’s sexual harassment lawsuit against Justin Baldoni; Lively and Swift pictured in September 2023 in NYC
The messages, which were obtained by E! News, indicate that Lively apologized for how a rift had developed between her and Swift amid the lawsuit against her It Ends With Us costar and director Baldoni, who has denied all of her allegations; Baldoni and Lively seen in January 2024 in Jersey City, new Jersey
According to the new court documents, it was Lively who reached out to Swift first to try to save their faltering friendship in messages from December 4, 2024.
‘I have no reason to ask, but I donno, I’ve been feeling like I should… is everything ok?’ Lively wrote, according to E! News. ‘I felt like a bad friend lately because I was such a sad sack who only talked about my own s*** for months.
‘You were generous to not only be the key person there for me during all of it, but also to let me off the hook for being so in it,’ she added.
‘I felt so stupid and like it sounded needy and awkward for everyone, especially bc [sic] I can’t explain why I have this feeling,’ Lively continued. ‘I do want to know everything is good, so I’m asking.
‘I always want the opportunity to be a better friend if there’s something I unintentionally did. I know how busy and taxed you are — physically, emotionally, practically, so I don’t expect any more from you ever,’ she wrote.
Swift’s last name reportedly wasn’t included in the new documents, though her full name is listed elsewhere in the filings.
In her response, the hitmaker admitted that Lively was ‘not wrong’ about the state of their friendship, but she also allayed some of her fears by saying it was ‘also not a big deal.’
‘I think I’m just exhausted in every avenue of my life and in recent months had been feeling a little bit of a shift in the way you talk to me,’ Swift admitted. ‘Yes, there has been a lot of Justin stuff but I’ve been through things like this before and I know how all consuming it is.’
‘Is everything ok?’ Lively wrote to Swift. ‘I felt like a bad friend lately because I was such a sad sack who only talked about my own s*** for months’; pictured together in February 2024
Swift, who was days away from wrapping her Eras tour at the time of the December 4, 2024, exchange, said she had been ‘exhausted’, but admitted Lively’s messages had started to sound like ‘a mass corporate email sent to 200 employees’; pictured in September 2024
Notably, Swift’s reply came just days before she wrapped up her massive Eras Tour with three more shows in Vancouver, Canada, on December 6, 7 and 8, and the globe-trotting performances may have explained why she felt so ‘exhausted’.
The songstress went on to explain that she missed her old pal due to what she perceived as an impersonal shift in Lively’s correspondence with her.
‘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,’ Swift admitted. ‘It feels awful to be in any way critical of any way you process what you’ve been going through but I just kinda miss my funny, dark, normal-speaking friend who talks to me as herself.’
Swift also indicated that she understood the change in Lively’s messages to her.
‘I know you feel attacked from all sides for ridiculous reasons, so you’re feeling like you have to overly explain things… but it’s me,’ she wrote. ‘That’s just caused a little distance. And you don’t need to apologize.
‘Just come back, please,’ Swift pleaded.
In a playful response, Lively showed off some of her wit in response to her friend’s critique.
‘Thank you for your feedback,’ she replied, imitating a corporate email response. ‘We at headquarters are reviewing your concerns and will get back to you in a timely manner.’
‘You don’t need to apologize. Just come back, please,’ Swift pleaded. Lively jokingly responded in the manner of a corporate email. ‘Thank you for your feedback. We at headquarters are reviewing your concerns and will get back to you in a timely manner’; pictured in January 2024 in NYC
Lively admitted she became ‘digitally paranoid’ and wasn’t writing like herself anymore, even as her text messages soon became part of the public record in her and Baldoni’s legal battle; pictured in December 2023 in NYC
But Lively quickly added, ‘For real, though. You’re right.’
Lively suggested the change in her messages was due to her becoming ‘digitally paranoid’ amid her legal battle with Baldoni, which resulted in many of her private communications being released as evidence.
‘I’ve been texting like I’m writing. Not like me talking,’ Lively explained, admitting: ‘I didn’t realize that until you pointed it out, but I see it.
‘On top of that, I’m over packaging simple things bc I’ve felt so deeply misunderstood that I don’t trust my judgement of myself anymore…’ she added.
Lively went on to admit fault for the distance that had grown between her and Swift, and she admitted she was ‘sorry’ for their recent chilly relations.
‘Point is, I’m being a stupid paranoid weirdo and felt it but didn’t know where or how or when,’ Lively said. ‘So thank you for telling me and for saying I don’t need to apologize and for not making it a big deal. But I am sorry. To you.’
Swift defused the heavy emotions with a callback to Lively’s corporate email joke as she imitated what an overly positive executive’s response might have sounded like.
‘First paragraph took me OUT,’ she joked.
Lively sued Baldoni and others in December 2024, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation — claims that he denies. Their trial is set for March 2026; Baldoni is pictured in August 2024
Lively disputed the claim that Swift and Hugh Jackman were present when her husband Ryan Reynolds confronted Baldoni for ‘fat-shaming’ her in a newly released portion of her deposition on Tuesday; Lively is seen in 2025
The latest update on Lively and Swift’s friendship was released on the same day that part of Lively’s deposition referencing Swift was unveiled.
In the newly released document, Lively disputed the claim that Swift and Hugh Jackman were present when her husband Ryan Reynolds confronted Baldoni for ‘fat-shaming’ her.
Lively testified that only Reynolds, 49, was in the room at their New York City penthouse when she brought up the issue with Baldoni, 41, who had ‘come to my office to work on script revisions’.
Lively claimed that her personal trainer, Don Saladino, told her Baldoni had asked ‘behind my back’ how much she would weigh when filming of their movie, It Ends With Us, was scheduled to begin — a question Baldoni said stemmed from concerns about his back issues.
‘I raised his conversation with Saladino about my weight and conveyed that it was upsetting to me and that it felt invasive and inappropriate,’ she testified about the meeting, which took place April 25, 2023.
Lively — whose pal Swift reportedly called Baldoni a ‘b***h’ in catty text messages — said that Reynolds ‘briefly walked over and joined our discussion’.
The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Jackman, Swift, Baldoni, Reynolds and Lively for comment.
She went on to testify that their friend Jackman ‘stopped by’ to take Reynolds for lunch.
‘No one but Baldoni, myself, and Reynolds was anywhere in our office during the discussion about Baldoni’s inappropriate inquiries into my weight,’ she said in her deposition; Lively, Reynolds, Jackman and Swift pictured in 2024
Lively claimed that her trainer, Don Saladino, told her Baldoni had asked ‘behind my back’ how much she would weigh when filming of their movie, It Ends With Us, was scheduled to begin – a question Baldoni said stemmed from concerns about his back issues; Baldoni seen 2024
‘He shook Baldoni’s hand at the door, they exchanged niceties, and Jackman left with Reynolds,’ Lively explained.
‘No one but Baldoni, myself, and Reynolds was anywhere in our office during the discussion about Baldoni’s inappropriate inquiries into my weight.’
The testimony contradicted an exhibit which was unsealed in November, that outlined a timeline of the events sent from Wayfarer Studios co-founder Jamey Heath’s team to Baldoni’s publicist via email in July 2024.
The email, obtained by the Daily Mail, claimed Swift, 35, and Jackman were inside Reynolds and Lively’s penthouse when Reynolds ‘unloaded’ on a tearful Baldoni during a heated confrontation.
The document alleged that Baldoni went over to the penthouse, where Reynolds confronted him over ‘how horrible it was that Justin would ask about a women’s [sic] weight’, claiming it was ‘fat shaming Blake’.
Baldoni was ‘completely embarrassed and apologized and even shared some tears’ according to the document.
The confrontation occurred after Baldoni, Lively’s co-star and director, asked her trainer about her weight before filming a scene in It Ends With Us where he needed to lift her.
The email stated that the pair’s famous friends Swift and Jackman ‘were also present in the apt at the time’ of the meeting.
‘I raised his conversation with Saladino about my weight and conveyed that it was upsetting to me and that it felt invasive and inappropriate,’ Lively testified about the meeting, which took place April 25, 2023 at her and Reynolds’s NYC penthouse; Lively seen in the penthouse
She went on to testify that their friend Jackman ‘stopped by’ to take Reynolds for lunch. ‘He shook Baldoni’s hand at the door, they exchanged niceties, and Jackman left with Reynolds’; Jackman, Lively and Reynolds seen 2024
The testimony contradicted a previous exhibit unsealed in November that claimed Swift and Jackman ‘were also present in the apt at the time’ of the meeting; Lively and Swift seen 2023
Lively sued Baldoni and others in December 2024, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation — claims that he denies. Their trial is set for March 2026.
Baldoni and his lawyers previously published a timeline of events from January 2019 to January 2024 on the public website thelawsuitinfo.com, releasing 168 pages of emails, text messages and WhatsApp messages.
As per the website, Baldoni claimed he received advice on ‘nutrition and exercise’ and ‘making special accommodations’ for his back injury, multiple bulging discs and chronic pain.
As well as signing up to the personal trainer’s meal delivery service, Baldoni asked Saladino for advice on training his back muscles for a scene in which he had to lift Lively.
He also privately asked about Lively’s weight, which he described as an inquiry made in ‘good faith’ and a ‘reasonable question to ask of his trainer’.
In her amended complaint, Lively said she ‘was humiliated to learn that Baldoni secretly called her fitness trainer without her knowledge or permission, and implied that he wanted her to lose weight in two weeks’.
In his $400million countersuit — which has since been dismissed by the judge — Baldoni’s lawyers explained that he contacted Lively’s trainer ‘to ask what Lively weighed so that he could train his back muscles in preparation for a lift scene’.
Swift — who has reportedly fallen out with Lively after being dragged into the legal drama — and Jackman were previously listed as potential witnesses by Lively’s legal team.
It comes after Lively’s catty texts with Swift were revealed as part of the lawsuit, with Swift reportedly calling Baldoni a ‘b***h’ in one message; Lively and Swift pictured in 2023
Jackman showed support for Lively by attending the It Ends With Us premiere in New York City on August 9, 2024, posing with her and Reynolds. He also appeared with Lively on the cover of Vogue’s September 2024 issue.
It comes after Lively’s catty texts with Swift were revealed as part of the lawsuit. The pair traded unflattering remarks about Baldoni.
According to court papers, Lively called Baldoni the ‘doofus director of my movie’ while Swift agreed to help her, saying: ‘I’ll do anything for you!’
After a meeting about changing the script, Lively called Swift the ‘absolute greatest friend ever’.
In other texts, Swift gave Lively advice about using one of her songs in the film and suggested that Baldoni was not ‘strategic’.
Just before a bombshell article in the New York Times outlining Lively’s claims was due to come out in December 2024, Swift told her friend: ‘I think this b**** [Baldoni] knows something is coming because he’s gotten out his tiny violin.’
The court papers also reveal that Lively bad-mouthed Baldoni to her other famous friends, including Matt Damon and his wife Lucy, and she allegedly told Ben Affleck that Baldoni was a ‘chaotic clown’.
The texts were revealed in a lengthy court document filed in the federal court in New York in which Lively responded to dozens of claims made by Baldoni.
Lively sued Baldoni and others in December 2024, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation — claims that he denies; They are seen on set in 2024
In the file, Baldoni’s lawyers wrote: ‘On April 12, 2023, Lively asked her friend, the world-famous musician Taylor Swift, for help.
‘Referring to Baldoni as “this doofus director of my movie,” she went on to describe him as “a clown” who “thinks he’s a writer now.”
‘She asked Swift to endorse the revised script she was proposing even without having read it.’
One text to the singer from Lively read: ‘You don’t have to read of course’.
Lively’s side disputed that she asked Swift to endorse the script without reading it, only that she ‘hoped she would’.
In another part, the court document states: ‘Swift agreed to do Lively’s bidding, texting Lively: “I’ll do anything for you !!”
‘Lively and Taylor Swift met with Baldoni at Lively’s apartment, where Swift endorsed the revised draft. Afterward, Lively wrote to Swift: ‘You were so epically heroic today. I recapped every moment to Ryan [Reynolds, Lively’s husband].
‘I kept remembering stuff. You making s*** up about me and lenses. And referring to yourself as my doll. This clown’, an apparent reference to Baldoni, ‘falling for all of it. But also resisting it. You are the world’s absolute greatest friend ever.’
Their trial is set for March 2026; Lively and Baldoni seen in a still from It Ends With Us
In their response, Lively’s side disputed that Swift agreed to do Lively’s ‘bidding.’
Baldoni’s lawyers also alleged that Lively ‘told famous friends, including Matt Damon, Lucy Damon, and Ben Affleck that she “rewrote the script. I directed every actor.”‘
Baldoni has claimed that Lively took over the film and rewrote entire scenes with the help of Reynolds.
Swift’s representative previously emphasized that she had no involvement with the film, stating: ‘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.’
‘The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, “My Tears Ricochet,”‘ her representative added.
He said Swift’s name was being used ‘to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.’
