Taylor Swift has been keeping a low profile as of late since the end of her Eras Tour at the end of last year – but she’s been forced to speak out after being dragged into one of the most talked-about news stories of the last few months.

Over the weekend, the Anti-Hero singer’s team issued a frustrated statement, lamenting that the Grammy winner had somehow become embroiled in the very public legal drama surrounding her friend, Blake Lively, and the Gossip Girl alum’s former director and It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni.

But what exactly is going on between the two Hollywood stars – and how is Taylor involved? Get yourself a cup of tea and allow us to bring you up to speed…

Frankly, we could be here all day with this one, so we’ll try and keep this short.

Last year, both actors starred in the big-screen adaptation of the novel It Ends With Us, which Justin also directed.

Around the film’s summer release, people began to suspect there had been some behind-the-scenes drama after it was spotted that none of the cast followed Justin back on Instagram, with the film’s leads also not posing for any pictures together or doing joint interviews while promoting the movie.

Towards the end of last year, Blake then filed a legal complaint against Justin and his production company, accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of their film, and a subsequent effort to deliberately “destroy” her reputation.

He responded weeks later with a lawsuit of his own, accusing Blake, her husband Ryan Reynolds and her publicist of defamation and extortion.

The matter is expected to go to trial in March 2026, though a judge claimed earlier this year that this court date could be moved earlier were the legal teams on both sides able to follow court rules about public statements, which are in place to ensure as fair a trial as possible.

On Friday, Deadline broke the story that a week earlier, Taylor – a long-time friend of both Blake and her famous husband Ryan – had been hit with a subpoena from Justin’s legal team earlier this week.

It Ends With Us features a scene soundtracked by Taylor’s Folklore cut My Tears Ricochet, but aside from that, she was in no way linked with the movie.

Blake’s team later issued a statement to Deadline, accusing Justin and his team of trying to “turn a case of sexual harassment and retaliation into entertainment for the tabloids”.

“This is a very serious legal matter, not Barnum & Bailey’s Circus,” Blake’s team said. “The defendants continue to publicly intimidate, bully, shame and attack women’s rights and reputations. Including in the past month seeking to strike down ‘for all’, a powerful California victims’ rights law, calling it ‘unconstitutional.’

“The disturbing actions by a billionaire, men who made their careers as ‘female allies’ and their team continue to show their true colours.”

Back in January, Justin had also filed a legal complaint claiming that Taylor was one of the public figures (alongside Blake’s husband Ryan Reynolds) who had pressured him into accepting rewrites suggested by Blake on the It Ends With Us script.

Prior to that, Blake claimed that Ryan had helped rewrite one of the film’s key scenes.

A spokesperson for Taylor told Hello! magazine on Friday evening: “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 travelling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history.

“The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, My Tears Ricochet. 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.”

Neither party has spoken out directly, but it’s worth pointing out that reports have been circulating suggesting that their friendship has cooled long before this latest development.

In February, the Daily Mail noted that Taylor had not invited Blake to join her to watch boyfriend Travis Kelce play at the 2025 Super Bowl, citing an anonymous “source” who claimed the singer “wants nothing to do with this trial and court case”.

A day later, the same outlet claimed that Blake was happy laying low until the drama involving Justin Baldoni blew over, quoting another “source” who said the A Simple Favour actor was happy to not be included so as not to “overshadow” Taylor and Travis’ big night.

Just three weeks ago, People magazine published a story suggesting the two women’s friendship was “weathering the storm” when Taylor was first named in a complaint filed by Justin Baldoni’s January complaint.

People’s own “source” said Taylor was initially “really hurt by this situation” but that they had been able to “recover from this and put it all behind them”.

Since the latest update, the Daily Mail published a new piece suggesting that Taylor felt “exploited” by her friend – though it’s important to note that she has said nothing publicly to indicate that this is the case.

HuffPost UK has contacted Taylor Swift’s team for comment.

Blake’s team were also complimentary about Taylor in their initial response to the subpoena, describing her as a “woman who has given a voice to millions the world over”.