New court documents reveal that Blake Lively and Taylor Swift were trading more than pleasantries about Justin Baldoni, calling him everything from a “clown” to “a bitch” in a behind-the-scenes Hollywood skirmish.
According to filings obtained by Page Six, Lively texted Swift in April 2023, referring to Baldoni—the director and her co-star on It Ends With Us—as the “doofus director of my movie.” At the same time, she asked Swift to back her revisions to the script before even reading them. Swift obliged, texting Lively, “I’ll do anything for you!!”
After Swift endorsed Lively’s script in a meeting at the actress’s apartment, Lively wrote:
“You were so epically heroic today. I recapped every moment to Ryan [Reynolds]. I kept remembering stuff. You making s–t 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 world’s absolute greatest friend ever.”
Swift also weighed in on creative decisions, questioning Baldoni’s handling of her song My Tears Ricochet With Us in the film. “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,” she wrote. Lively agreed, mocking Baldoni’s “only shot at having the appearance of an upper hand.”
By December 2024, ahead of a New York Times article alleging Baldoni ran a smear campaign against Lively, Swift texted:
“I think this bitch knows something is coming because he’s gotten out his tiny violin.”
Lively, in her own court statements, denied ever asking Swift to endorse her script without reading it and clarified she had sent the script while Baldoni was still present, hoping Swift would read it but without pressure.
The documents also allege Lively disparaged Baldoni to other A-listers, including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, calling him a “chaotic clown” while claiming credit for rewriting the script and directing the actors.
Swift’s involvement came into focus in January 2025, when Baldoni filed a countersuit against Lively, citing pressure from her “dragons”—Reynolds and Swift—during a scene she had reworked. Baldoni’s attorneys noted that he was dealing not just with Lively, but two of Hollywood’s most influential figures, making the negotiation far from simple.
Swift’s camp distanced her from the film and the dispute, emphasizing that she “never set foot on the set, was not involved in casting or creative decisions, never scored the film, never saw an edit, and did not even see It Ends With Us until weeks after its public release” while she was headlining a global tour in 2023 and 2024.
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Last modified: January 22, 2026
