Blake Lively has requested a court to issue a “protective order” to prevent Justin Bardoni from accessing her text messages with Taylor Swift.
In documents filed with Judge Lewis J. Liman in New York, Lively asserts that Bardoni and his team have been trying to engage with Swift.
According to the paperwork reviewed by Page 6, Lively argues that her conversations with Swift are “not central” to any allegations against her and are “unrelated” to claims made by his Wayfarer Production Company.
“Wayfarer officials have repeatedly stated in the lawsuit, especially in the past month, that I used Swift’s name as part of my media strategy,” the documents claim.
Lively’s team accuses Bardoni’s group of initially dropping their inquiries into her friendship with Swift after obtaining sufficient information, insisting that their continued pursuit is “duplicate, cumulative, and unnecessary.”
“Bardoni and Wayfarer are still seeking access to Taylor Swift’s private messages, despite having previously issued a summons and retracting it after collecting the information they required,” they noted.
The current motion appears to indicate an ongoing attempt to leverage Swift’s fame as a distraction from the central issues of the legal battle.
“This effort to involve one of the biggest pop stars as a public relations strategy reflects a desperate attempt to refocus attention away from the fact that Justin Bardoni, Ryan Reynolds, and their representatives have all been dismissed,” the statement concludes.
Both Bardoni and Swift’s representatives have yet to respond to requests for comments regarding the situation.
The dispute began when Bardoni filed a $400 million counterclaim against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, back in January.
His lawyer suggested that Swift was present during a crucial meeting involving the co-stars and alleged that Lively was attempting to control the film set, even using her connection with Swift to her advantage.
After serving Swift with a subpoena in May, Bardoni withdrew it shortly after and claimed to have completed his investigation concerning her friendship with Lively.
In response to this backtrack, Lively’s representative stated their relief that the subpoena was rescinded and that they would support Swift’s legal team in resisting unnecessary harassment.
In a surprising turn, a New York judge dismissed Bardoni’s lawsuit against Lively on Monday.
The judge noted that Bardoni’s claims did not sufficiently hold Lively accountable for statements beyond her own.
Bardoni’s legal team has been instructed to revise their claim regarding breach of contract and tortious interference by the end of June.
Essentially, while recent developments are notable, the legal conflict appears to have a long way to go, with trials set for March 2026 for both Lively and Bardoni.
