At a Glance
- Unsealed legal texts show Blake Lively apologizing to Taylor Swift for being self-absorbed during her legal fight
- Swift replied she missed her “funny, dark, normal-speaking friend” and felt the texts read like “mass corporate email”
- Multiple sources told News Of Los Angeles the longtime friendship had “halted” amid Lively’s lawsuit against Justin Baldoni
- Why it matters: The exchange offers the first direct look inside one of Hollywood’s most famous friendships as it unraveled
Unsealed court filings reveal private text messages that capture Blake Lively and Taylor Swift grappling with a growing rift weeks before Swift’s Eras Tour finale.
The messages, submitted ahead of a January 22 summary judgment hearing in Lively’s sexual-harassment lawsuit against director Justin Baldoni, do not bear the stars’ names, but accompanying court papers identify them as the correspondents.
“I felt like a bad friend”
Lively opens the exchange by checking on Swift and apologizing for monopolizing conversations with her own problems.
“I have no reason to ask, but I donno [sic], I’ve been feeling like I should… is everything ok? I felt like a bad friend lately because I was such a sad sack who only talked about my own s— for months,” she writes, adding that husband Ryan Reynolds urged her to reach out directly.
She promises she “always want[s] the opportunity to be a better friend” and insists she expects nothing in return because Swift is “busy and taxed… physically, emotionally, practically.”
Swift’s candid reply
Swift waits more than an hour before answering, conceding Lively is “not wrong, but it’s also not a big deal.”
“I think I’m just exhausted in every avenue of my life and in recent months had been feeling a little bit of a shift in the way you talk to me,” Swift says, noting the flood of “Justin stuff” but adding she’s “been through things like this before.”
The pop superstar then delivers the heart of her concern:
- The last few texts felt “like a mass corporate email sent to 200 employees”
- She misses her “funny, dark, normal-speaking friend”
- Lively’s need to “overly explain things” has created “a little distance”
“You don’t need to apologize. Just come back please,” Swift ends.
Lively blames “digital paranoia”
Hours later, Lively acknowledges Swift’s point.
“So yeah, I’ve been texting like I’m writing. Not like me talking. I didn’t realize that until you pointed it out, but I see it,” she admits, blaming paranoia born from feeling “deeply misunderstood.”
She says the legal battle triggered an “identity crisis” and laments losing other relationships:
“The thing that spooked me most in all this though, wasn’t the bad guys being bad guys. It was the good guys, my lifelong friends – allies to women – who quietly dipped.”
Lively closes the text with gratitude and an apology “to you… to me and to our kids,” punctuating, “F— that guy and f— his whole gaggle of supervillains.”
Courtroom backdrop
The exchange occurred three days before Swift’s tour finale, while Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni was heating up.
Sources previously told News Of Los Angeles the friendship had “halted” amid the litigation, in which Lively accuses Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation; he denies the claims.
In separate filings, Lively allegedly called Reynolds and Swift her “dragons” who defend her, referencing Game of Thrones:
“I happen to have a few dragons. For better or worse, but usually for better… my dragons also protect those I fight for.”
When Baldoni’s team tried to subpoena Swift in May 2025, her representative issued a statement distancing her from It Ends With Us, the film at the center of the suit:
“Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, did not score the film, never saw an edit… Her involvement was licensing [the song] ‘My Tears Ricochet.'”
Key takeaways
- The texts confirm months of speculation that Lively and Swift’s friendship had cooled
- Both women cite exhaustion-Swift from tour, Lively from litigation-as a factor
- Lively’s fear of losing allies prompted overly formal communication that Swift found off-putting
- Neither woman appears ready to permanently end the relationship, with Swift asking Lively to “come back” and Lively expressing excitement for Swift’s post-tour rest
The filings offer a rare, unfiltered glimpse into how high-profile friendships can fracture under public and legal pressure, and hint that reconciliation may still be possible.
