How Taylor Swift Got Pulled Into Blake Lively And Justin Baldoni's Explosive Legal Battle

Blake Lively has long been close friends with Taylor Swift, but it seems that their highly publicized friendship could have allegedly been used against Lively to tarnish her reputation. According to Lively's recently filed lawsuit against Justin Baldoni – who co-starred in and directed "It Ends With Us" — Baldoni was advised by his crisis PR team to consider crafting a media narrative that painted Lively in a negative light based on her relationship with Swift.

Lively's lawsuit alleges that Baldoni was presented with a "Scenario Planning Document" that came up with a number of possible "misleading counternarratives," Fox News Digital reports. One of the suggestions from the PR management team was the possibility of "planting stories about the weaponization of feminism and how people in [Lively's] circle, like Taylor Swift, have been accused of utilizing these tactics to 'bully' [people] into getting what they want."

Swift has been accused by critics in the past of using feminist messages and philosophy to win people to her side in public feuds — most notably in Swift's public battle with Scooter Braun over ownership and controls of her masters. Others, however, have argued that the very concept of a woman "weaponizing" feminism is a form of propaganda disseminated by a patriarchal system and is designed to undermine feminism by painting it as an attack. Regardless, according to alleged text messages between Baldoni and his producer, co-defendant Jamey Heath, the option didn't seem to be a good idea in Baldoni's mind.

Blake Lively's lawsuit against Justin Baldoni –- which also names "It Ends With Us" co-producer Jamey Heath and Baldoni's production company, Wayfarer Studios, as defendants -– includes a slew of accusations of sexual harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit puts forth numerous allegations of Baldoni and others behaving inappropriately towards Lively and causing tension on set and during the promotion of the film. This culminated with a great deal of online criticism that began to build toward Lively, which she claims damaged her career.

According to the lawsuit, Baldoni and his producers hired crisis PR manager Melissa Nathan specifically to try and get ahead of the possibility that Lively went public with her claims of Baldoni's on-set behavior. According to alleged text messages between Nathan and Baldoni's publicist, Jennifer Abel, Baldoni wanted Lively to feel that she would face an avalanche of controversy if she spoke negatively of her co-star. When reports of on-set tensions surfaced, Baldoni's team allegedly led a fake low-key smear campaign on social media to discredit Lively and distract the press from her own allegations.

Since the lawsuit, filed on December 20, Baldoni has been dropped by his talent agency, WME — the same agency that represents Lively. Lawyer Bryan Freedman, who represents Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, staunchly denied the lawsuit's allegations, telling The New York Times, "These claims are completely false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media." Freedman also alleged that the lawsuit was a "desperate attempt to 'fix' [Lively's] negative reputation." If anything is certain, Baldoni is just one more celeb who isn't a fan of Lively.