Unfortunately, some things are unavoidable.
One of those things seems to be participating in Justin Baldoni’s legal war with Blake Lively.
That trespassing process server never reached her, but Taylor Swift’s still getting dragged into this.
Team Baldoni is hoping to treat her as a hostile witness.
This legal war is full of A-listers (and also Justin Baldoni)
According to a report by TMZ, Justin Baldoni’s legal team fully intends to drag Taylor Swift into the courtroom.
Deposition or no, his attorneys plan to call her as a hostile witness.
(She’s not going to like this — and, honestly, who would?)
Their position is that Swift’s alleged involvement in Baldoni’s dispute with Blake Lively is “clear,” she’ll have no choice in the matter.
The notion that their involvement is clear seems to stem from recent court filings.
For example, as we recently reported, Swift referred to Baldoni as “that bitch” in a 2024 text message.
It was not in a flattering, “100% that bitch” context.
Specifically, she wrote to Lively: “I think this bitch knows something is coming because he’s gotten out his tiny violin.”
At another point, Swift texted Lively: “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.”
Lively’s deposition acknowledged that she had, at one point, shared a script with Swift.
He has maintained that he did nothing wrong, and that this is about making a movie
Baldoni has seem convinced — perhaps genuinely — that the numerous complaints about his behavior, from sharing details about his penis with coworkers to improvising kisses on set, were not really about him.
His assertion has been that Lively wanted creative control over the film at any cost.
And he has also seemed to believe that Swift was a weapon — or at least, backup — in her efforts to coerce changes to the script.
It’s likely that there were genuine creative differences that had nothing to do with Baldoni’s behavior or sexual misconduct allegations.
But given how many women have echoed Lively’s concerns and made their own, separate complaints, this doesn’t look like a power play.
Like it or not, it is Team Baldoni’s job to convince the court — when this goes to trial, months from now — that things aren’t what they appear.
It seems likely that they will attempt to make it look like Lively spun a conspiracy to strongarm the film away from Baldoni (who was her co-star, director, and part of the production company behind it).
Whether they outright accuse Lively of lying (and thus, by extensions, other actresses including Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer) remains to be seen.
But it’s clear that Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, plans to use Taylor Swift to make his case.
Whether she likes it or not.
What is a ‘hostile witness’ exactly?
If you’re wondering what a “hostile witness” is, you’re not alone. The term appears in popular culture, though often as a joke.
A hostile witness is a witness who disagrees with the attorney questioning them.
This can mean a witness who simply has a contrary opinion regarding the facts of the case or legal matters. But this can also mean a witness who is openly and directly adversarial.
Simply put, if you’re asking a regular witness something, they basically just have to reiterate what they already told investigators or what they already said in a deposition.
With Swift, Baldoni’s team plans to ask leading questions and verbally spar. It’s allowed, up to a point.
But the court may be more forgiving than Swifties. Watch out!