Justin Baldoni’s lawyers dropped their documents subpoena on Taylor Swift

Well, well. This is certainly interesting and not the way I thought this story would end. Several weeks ago, Taylor Swift was served with a subpoena. Then, last week, Justin Baldoni’s lawyers made a series of very bold accusations involving Taylor Swift and Blake Lively. Baldoni’s lawyers had subpoenaed Taylor as a witness in the ongoing Baldoni-Lively lawsuits. Without going into every single piece of this sordid backstory, I actually thought Taylor was very much a witness to at least one important piece of the lawsuits, a significant meeting at Blake’s apartment between Blake and Justin. Baldoni’s lawyers claimed all kinds of really incendiary things though, like Blake was threatening to release years of Taylor’s texts, and Blake asked Taylor to delete texts. It was all a bit much, and the judge on the case told Baldoni’s lawyers to drop that part. As far as I know, there were still ongoing discussions about whether Taylor would sit for a deposition, and whether Taylor and Blake’s texts were relevant to the lawsuits. But now Baldoni’s team has backed down from all of that. It’s curious.

Justin Baldoni has dropped the document subpoena that was issued to Taylor Swift in his ongoing legal battle with the singer’s friend Blake Lively.

A spokesperson for Lively confirmed the news on Thursday, May 22, saying in a statement obtained by PEOPLE that they are “pleased” Baldoni’s legal team has “withdrawn their harassing subpoenas to Taylor Swift and her law firm.”

“We supported the efforts of Taylor’s team to quash these inappropriate subpoenas directed to her counsel, and we will continue to stand up for any third party who is unjustly harassed or threatened in the process,” adds the spokesperson.

“The Baldoni and Wayfarer team have tried to put Taylor Swift, a woman who has been an inspiration for tens of millions across the globe, at the center of this case since day one,” Lively’s rep claimed. “Exploiting Taylor Swift’s celebrity was the original plan in Melissa Nathan’s scenario planning document, and it continues to this day. Faced with having to justify themselves in federal court, they folded. At some point they will run out of distractions from the actual claims of sexual harassment and retaliation they are facing.”

Reps for Baldoni did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment. A rep for Swift has not commented to PEOPLE.

[From People]

“The Baldoni and Wayfarer team have tried to put Taylor Swift, a woman who has been an inspiration for tens of millions across the globe, at the center of this case since day one…” I mean… Blake was the one who invited Taylor to that meeting at Blake’s apartment. Blake was the one calling Taylor one of her “dragons” as a threat to Baldoni. I would say that Blake put Taylor in the middle of this situation, and of course Baldoni’s legal team was going to try to speak to Taylor and see what Taylor actually did within the production. What I don’t get is why Team Baldoni has backed down completely. It feels like another shoe is about to drop.

Oh, maybe this is it, per Deadline: “Part of the reason the summons was dropped was because details that the Bryan Freedman-represented Baldoni and crew sought were provided, I hear.” As in, Taylor and her lawyers looked at the meat of the documents subpoena and provided most of what Team Baldoni wanted, so Team Baldoni dropped the summons. That certainly changes the story. “Summons dropped after documents provided” is a lot different than “summons dropped out of nowhere.”

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

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22 Responses to “Justin Baldoni’s lawyers dropped their documents subpoena on Taylor Swift”

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  1. SarahLee says:

    This would fit, somewhat, with the interesting rumors swirling that Scott Swift was the source for the Blake threatened Taylor story with Baldoni’s lawyers. That story gets out there. Baldoni subpoenas, which Taylor complies with, all while keeping herself as out of it as she can. Meanwhile, Blake continues to try to spin everything.

  2. hmm says:

    Baldoni’s lawyers are trash. Literally all Blake said was that she has protective friends. There were no threats. Also none of it is whatsoever related to the fact that this case is about sexual harassment. Whether or not they were having a power struggle is irrelevant.

    • FHMom says:

      Yes to all of this.

    • Smart&Messy says:

      To be honest, I lost the plotline about sexual harassment and the power struggle. Which is it now? I remember Blake making a formal complaint about being the target of a media campaign by Baldoni. Then Baldoni filed civil suit for something and Blake filed for something else, and the two suits were merged. When did the sexual harassment and power struggle come into the picture and what do the two sides want to actually prove with the endless scrolls of texts? If Baldoni or Blake wanted to muddy the waters of public opinion by flooding us with unnecessary information, they succeeded with me.

      • sevenblue says:

        @Smart&Messy, Please someone correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I remember, Blake sued him for sexual harassment and retaliation against her to keep her silent through negative social media campaign. That is why her team went after the PR firm working for him first. He is suing her for trying to take control of the project and (not sure about this) for defamation. I can google it but at this point there are so much garbage and bots out there, I don’t want to read all through that.

    • Juju says:

      HMM… I totally agree. His lawyers are focused on headlines and winning in the court of public opinion. The request was purely driven by a desire to bring Taylor into the headlines and had no legal merit.

      And Elisabeth’s comment below is spot on! DARVO tactics are working, unfortunately. It’s so disappointing.

    • Robert Phillips says:

      Yes sexual harassment that Blake hasn’t proven one bit.

  3. ThatGirlThere says:

    “Bryan Freedman-represented Baldoni and crew sought were provided, I hear.”

    I hear—I hear? So they don’t know & all it takes in the court of public opinion is to say shit and see what sticks.

    Gross.

  4. Elisabeth M says:

    It’s really not curious at all. Justin’s team, disappointingly, has been very effectively using the DARVO tactics that Johnny Depp so efficiently used against Amber Heard. It’s really classic patriarchal bs that’s been so depressing to watch work so well…….yet again. In a time when we’re being literally swallowed by the toxic masculinity cultural backlash that is the rise of the second Trump term, we all need to do better than to continually fall for it. The fact that Baldoni’s team felt the need to use these tactics should be a red flag for where his guilt lies. Honestly, given what’s happening in the world these days, when it comes to the bs of men, they’re guilty until proven innocent.

    • Kebbie says:

      Also, Baldoni’s lawyer paid $40,000 in 1991 to settle a lawsuit accusing him of sexually assaulting a 17 year old girl while he was in college, so…probably not exactly a stand-up guy to begin with. Not surprising he excels at this kind of manipulation.

  5. Ok Jan says:

    So Taylor gave them information in order to be freed of having to be deposed.

  6. Amee says:

    I can’t believe any judge has the time for any of this nonsense between Blake and what’s-his-name.

  7. Nick says:

    This was always a publicity stunt to get headlines! i do think that taylor and blake’s friendship is OVER because taylor hates it when she sees someone using her name for clout and i think that taylor probably worked with justin’s lawyers because its easy to prove if blake extorted taylor since the source is close to taylor!i do think blake would have to be the dumbest person on earth to think you can blackmail taylor without serious consequences!

    • sevenblue says:

      There is no evidence Blake did such a thing. The judge literally threw that paper out.

  8. Boxy Lady says:

    If that story “Taylor wishes she had never met Blake” is accurate, then it’s very believable that Taylor cooperated with Baldoni’s lawyers.

  9. StillDouchesOfCambridge says:

    Blake is unlikeable, and the dragon piece she wrote shows her to be a bully and an experienced one.

    • North of Boston says:

      Whether or not “Blake is unlikable” is irrelevant to any claims of sexual harassment by Baldoni.

  10. Kitten says:

    So where’s the bombshell then? Swift’s lawyers provided everything Baldoni’s team requested which is…what, exactly?? Her lawyers presumably cooperated because there’s no there there–they have nothing to hide.
    TBH the whole thing feels like a publicity stunt on the part of the Baldoni team which fits their obsessive pattern of grabbing headlines in the war of public opinion.

  11. Lizzie says:

    Keeping in mind that both sides have savvy lawyers and PR… what I read is Freedman won this in two ways. First, Taylors statement that she was not involved at all make Blakes text to Justin about Taylor seem boastful but untrue. Second, once Taylor supplied the documents requested there was no need for the subpoena. I’ve seen online everywhere that it was Taylors father who contacted Freedman about the threat by Blake to release Taylors old texts.

  12. Elle says:

    I don’t know that it makes you a bully, but I don’t think reminding people you have connections is something to be impressed by. It’s very rich kid “do you know who my dad is?” when they get in trouble for doing something wrong.

    Bully may or may not be the right word. But she overall doesn’t sound like a very pleasant person to those she doesn’t like. Relational aggression (a form of aggression that harms others through the damage of relationships or social standing, rather than physical violence) is maybe not bullying per se, but it’s horrible. And I think she absolutely is an expert at it.

    • Lucy says:

      I think it’s interesting he’s dragging Taylor into it this hard, because logically the “dragon” he would’ve been afraid of is Ryan. They’re in the same business, similar age range, and huge difference in clout. Ryan is the one that would’ve actually scared him.

      Almost like this whole thing is to isolate and ruin Blake vs address “harm.” It’s very DARVO is what I’m saying. And I do think that he didn’t expect her to be great at countering his power moves during the filming. I think she was fighting sexual harassment and manipulation with some really expert manipulation. Whether that’s her normal way of operating or a self defense skill she has, I don’t know.

  13. Anonymous Lawyer says:

    The statement to Deadline doesn’t make any sense.

    You don’t “drop” subpoenas if you receive documents. The subpoena still exists and can still be enforced — you just choose not to enforce it if you received the documents. Additionally, once a third party objects to producing documents under a subpoena, they aren’t obligated to give you anything unless a court order compels them to do so.

    The Deadline statement is careful not to say that Swift or her lawyers produced documents in response to the Subpoena. If she HAD, I can guarantee the statement would have explicitly said as much.

    This sounds like Baldoni knew he’d lose a court battle over the scope of the subpoena(s) so he withdrew it entirely before that happened….