Taylor Swift’s voice may make a cameo in “It Ends With Us” — the 2024 film now embroiled in legal drama — but a representative for the pop star says that’s where her involvement in the movie ends.
Swift was reportedly subpoenaed by the legal team of the film’s director and star, Justin Baldoni, in his lawsuit against his co-star and Swift’s friend, Blake Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and Lively’s publicist, according to TMZ and other outlets.
The legal saga erupted late last year when Lively accused Baldoni, along with his team, of orchestrating a smear campaign against her after she reported on-set sexual harassment. Baldoni filed a countersuit alleging that Lively’s accusations are baseless and have caused serious harm to his career, reputation and personal life, further escalating the high-interest legal brawl.
In a statement to The Times on Friday, a spokesperson for Swift denied that the singer had any level of involvement in the film beyond agreeing to license her song “My Tears Ricochet” to be used in the trailer and a scene.
“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 spokesperson said, alluding to her record-breaking Eras Tour.
“Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case,” the statement continued.
Swift’s name became a part of the conversation when documents Baldoni’s team published online alluded to a “a famous, and famously close, friend of Reynolds and Lively.” Lively and Swift have been friends for more than a decade and have collaborated professionally in addition to making high-profile social appearances together, like at last year’s Super Bowl.
Baldoni’s team alleges that Reynolds and the unnamed “megacelebrity friend” “pressured” him to accept changes Lively made to the script.
Lively, according to the documents published online, allegedly sent a message to Baldoni referring to herself as the character “Khaleesi” from “Game of Thrones,” and Swift and Reynolds as her “dragons.”
“My dragons also protect those I fight for,” Lively allegedly texted Baldoni. “So really we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. You will too, I can promise you.”