- NFL. Was Travis Kelce tricked into mentioning Taylor Swift on latest 'New Heights' podcast?
- NFL. How did Patrick Mahomes respond to Tom Brady spending over $7,500 on his rookie card?
What started as a tense legal dispute between actress Blake Lively and actor-director Justin Baldoni is now threatening to pull global pop star Taylor Swift-and by extension, NFL star Travis Kelce-into its vortex. While Swift has tried to steer clear of the drama, her close friendship with Lively and new allegations tied to the lawsuit have made that near impossible.
The situation escalated dramatically with a recent court filing accusing Lively of pressuring Swift to publicly back her claims against Baldoni by allegedly threatening to release "private texts of a personal nature." The claim, which hints at potentially sensitive content, has also brought Kelce into the spotlight due to his high-profile relationship with Swift.
A spokesperson for Blake Lively, attorney Mike Gottlieb, strongly denied the accusation, calling it "categorically false."
The broader legal case involves Lively suing Baldoni for alleged sexual harassment during the production of the film It Ends With Us. Swift, a longtime friend of Lively, has reportedly tried to maintain distance from the situation, but the latest developments suggest her name could surface in court, possibly through a subpoena.
Swift could be subpoenaed
Baldoni's legal team, according to PEOPLE, has floated the idea of subpoenaing Swift and other celebrities in connection with the case, a tactic that Lively's lawyer sees as a baseless move aimed more at grabbing headlines than gathering relevant evidence.
"It's completely unclear what claims or defenses in the case any of these celebrities... have any relevance to at all," Gottlieb told PEOPLE. "This is a case about what happened to Blake Lively when she raised claims of sexual harassment on the set. It's not a case about how songs were chosen for the movie. It's not a case about fictional Marvel characters in Deadpool movies.
"You have to ask the question, then, why are these people being subpoenaed? Do they have any actual relevance to the case at hand? You can't just go around subpoenaing people because they're famous and you think it will generate a bunch of headlines. And the federal courts don't tolerate that kind of behavior."
If Swift is subpoenaed, it would mark a major turning point in the lawsuit. For now, it remains uncertain whether she will be legally compelled to testify, but sources close to the situation suggest her involvement may be inevitable.