The big showbiz showdown… It’s Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni – and yes, Taylor Swift has a starring role

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Everyone is eagerly awaiting the 2026 trial between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, which is set to begin on May 18th.

The conflict began publicly last December and quickly grew with multiple lawsuits. Now, Judge Lewis Liman has consolidated everything into one single case.

Actress Blake Lively claims her co-star Justin Baldoni’s behavior on the set of ‘It Ends With Us’ caused her significant emotional distress and constituted sexual harassment.

She alleges that Baldoni and his colleagues launched a PR campaign to ruin her reputation, and she is suing for $161 million in damages.

According to Baldoni’s legal team, the lawsuit is simply a costly and unnecessary reaction, and the claims of sexual harassment are unfounded.

I’m predicting Taylor Swift, despite wanting to stay out of the conflict, will surprisingly play a key role in the trial.

I know the text messages she shared with Lively, who was her closest friend then, are very important to the case.

The singer allowed her song, ‘My Tears Ricochet,’ to be featured in the movie. She also attended the well-known meeting at the home of Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, where the director, Baldoni, was pressured to accept Lively’s changes to the script.

But more important than that, the texts show what Lively thought about Baldoni and when.

These statements will detail any concerns she had about his behavior during the filming process, as described by her.

That’s all we know for now, but based on what we’ve been watching throughout the year, I anticipate Taylor Swift will be asked to testify regarding this important piece of evidence.

Let’s hope she’s not pencilled in a mid-May wedding with her footballer beau Travis Kelce.

As a big fan following this case, I was thrilled to hear that in June, Judge Liman decided that Baldoni’s legal team would be able to see texts between Blake Lively and Taylor Swift – but only if those texts had anything to do with the movie! It feels like a really important step in getting to the truth.

Lively’s lawyers attempted to prevent this, claiming Baldoni was involving Swift in the dispute for publicity. However, the judge ruled that these messages could potentially be important to the legal proceedings.

He issued a protective order to prevent the documents from becoming public record before the trial. This means they haven’t been filed with the court and made available to the public, unlike most of the other evidence in the case.

The judge explained that because Lively claimed Swift was aware of problems and conversations about the movie’s work environment, requests for messages between them about the film are relevant. These messages could either support or contradict Lively’s accusations of harassment and retaliation.

Baldoni’s lawsuit, which was later dropped, alleged that Lively used her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and her close friend, Taylor Swift, to pressure Baldoni into accepting one of her script changes for the movie.

The complaint stated that Baldoni felt pressured after Lively suggested her revisions improved the scene, making it ‘more fun and interesting’.

In a text message, Lively playfully called herself ‘Khaleesi’ and referred to Reynolds and Swift as her ‘dragons’ and ‘most trusted partners.’ The complaint states she said they’ve supported her through many situations where she felt ignored.

Taylor Swift and Blake Lively have been close friends for years, and Swift is godmother to three of Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ four children. They were frequently seen together in New York City, but their friendship appears to have ended since the public legal dispute began last December.

Last May, Baldoni’s team legally requested documents from Taylor Swift and her lawyers. Swift’s representative responded by stating that her involvement with the film was limited to allowing its use of one of her songs, and that she hadn’t even watched the movie until several weeks after it came out.

 

Sabrina Carpenter is poised to have a major year in film and television. She’ll first appear in a special episode of The Muppet Show on Disney+ in February, then begin filming the large-scale musical adaptation of Alice In Wonderland for Universal. Following that, she’s a leading contender to star alongside Meryl Streep in a potential third Mamma Mia movie.

 

And this year’s award for…

BEST DIVA

Nicole Scherzinger truly deserves recognition for her amazing career! She’s achieved incredible success, highlighted by winning a Tony Award for her role as Norma Desmond in the Broadway production of Sunset Boulevard.

Nicole Scherzinger reportedly has a reputation for being a bit demanding, and she asked producer Jamie Lloyd not to show close-ups of a particular side of her face during the show. The production uses live video projections on a large screen.

Lloyd recalled that Nicole specifically requested the camera not be positioned on her right side, explaining she didn’t think that side of her face looked very good.

Victoria Beckham, known for her glamorous style, playfully revealed in her Netflix documentary that she prefers smiling with only one side of her face. She joked that a smile from the right side makes her look sick.

BEST GIFTING

Things are financially difficult, and people are noticing fewer lavish parties and smaller movie premieres. Even a simple lunch at a place like the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills, where a salad can cost around £34, feels like a luxury. Despite this, Netflix, which is trying to complete a £62 billion acquisition of Warner Bros, continues to spend money on gifts and entertainment.

I’m so excited about the push for ‘Jay Kelly’! The team behind the film is really going above and beyond. They’ve been sending out amazing packages to potential voters – we’re talking the movie on DVD, a gorgeous copy of the script, the soundtrack CD, and even a super comfy ‘Jay Kelly’ sweatshirt! It’s clear they’re dedicated to getting George Clooney and the film the recognition they deserve, and as a big fan, I’m thrilled to see this kind of effort.

As the holidays approached, they continued the joke from the movie by sending out £63 Sweet Lady Jane vanilla bean cheesecakes.

EXCUSE OF THE YEAR

Okay, so I was totally glued to every interview with David Harbour while he was promoting Stranger Things. It was just… a lot. See, his ex, Lily Allen, had just dropped this album, ‘West End Girl,’ and everyone was buzzing because it seemed to be about some affair with someone named Madeline. Apparently, it hinted at him breaking the rules of their, like, open relationship. Honestly, it was messy! And Lily kept saying the album wasn’t actually true, which just made everything even more complicated. I was trying to focus on Hopper, but I was also completely obsessed with the drama surrounding David’s personal life – I couldn’t help it!

David Harbour described his characters, Chief Hopper and Eleven, as deeply imperfect and prone to errors, which he finds appealing to portray. He explained that he’s drawn to playing—and admiring—characters and people who are realistically flawed, embracing the complexities of human nature.

ENTHUSIAST OF THE YEAR

Danny Dyer played businessman Freddie Jones in Rivals and is loving filming the second series.

He admitted it was a daring idea to include a sex scene, but pointed out the unusual legal situation: actors are essentially permitted to engage in intimate acts as part of their job, depending on their scene partner. He also confessed that if he were in that position and attracted to the other actor, he wouldn’t be opposed to it.

I’m so excited about the new season of our show! It centers around the blossoming relationship between my character, Freddie Jones, and the wonderful Lizzie Vereker, played by the incredibly talented Katherine Parkinson. The response has been fantastic – we originally did eight episodes, but Disney+ loved it so much they’ve asked us to create twelve for this next run! It’s a real testament to the story and the amazing team behind it.

CANDOUR AWARD

Stephen Mangan, an actor and TV host, met his wife, Louise Delamere, while working on the 2000 movie Offending Angels. Mangan is also known for hosting…

The Fortune Hotel, featured on ITV, jokingly announced that it holds the record for the lowest-grossing film in British history, having earned just £94 at the box office.

DOMESTIC GODDESS

Apparently, Simon Cowell doesn’t do the cooking – a fact few would find surprising, according to his fiancée Lauren. They have a chef named Geoff, who you might recognize from his Netflix show, to handle meals. Simon does make one thing himself: beans on toast. He’s very particular about it, stirring the beans on low heat for a full 20 minutes to get the sauce just right.

PASS THE ONION

Prepare to present a violin to Dwayne Johnson, a man who’s earned an impressive £590 million by appearing in a string of low-quality films.

The retired wrestler has a difficult story to share about wanting to be taken seriously as an actor, particularly for the film The Smashing Machine, and his desire to change his career path.

He recently reflected on whether he was pursuing his own goals or simply fulfilling the expectations of others. Shortly after, he began working on the third Jumanji film.

 

No sex, please! Hollywood cleans up for Gen Z prudes 

For a long time, movies used sex and romance to attract audiences – think of films like Anora, Challengers, and Babygirl. However, that trend seems to be changing, and it looks like 2026 could mark the end of the era of films heavily relying on sexual content for popularity.

Many people have noticed a decline in sex scenes in movies and TV shows, and it appears younger viewers are driving this trend – they simply aren’t as interested in seeing them.

A recent UCLA study found that over 48% of Gen Z feel there’s an excessive amount of sexual content in television and films.

As someone who really believes in safe and respectful sets, it’s been interesting to see how things have shifted. After the vital conversations sparked by MeToo in 2017, intimacy coordinators were in incredibly high demand – everyone wanted one! But lately, I’m hearing they’re not being hired as often, which is a little concerning. It makes me wonder what’s happening behind the scenes and if the progress we made is being maintained.

Talent agency UTA has stopped representing intimacy coordinators, reflecting a current trend in the industry. While it wasn’t a major focus for them, the company has decided not to expand that service, according to industry publication The Ankler.

Brooke Haney, an experienced intimacy coordinator, recently told The Ankler that this year has been unusually slow for work in her field.

Zuri Pryor-Graves, who transitioned from sex therapy to working as an intimacy coordinator, noted that those in charge of creating TV and film are often hesitant about depicting explicit sexual content.

She’s noticed that scenes written with a lot of physical closeness often become much more modest – like a simple hug or kiss – when they’re filmed.

She observed that Hollywood and the entertainment industry currently seem to be creating stories with less emphasis on close, personal connections.

When intimacy coordinators first emerged, our aim was to collaborate with filmmakers and writers to ensure scenes involving intimacy were handled safely and comfortably, allowing for more of these scenes to be created responsibly.

Hollywood’s reaction seems to be that if there’s too much concern about how things are done, they’ll simply avoid doing them altogether. They’re choosing the easy path to avoid problems, which completely misses the real issue.

Mikey Madison, the Oscar-winning actress from the film Anora, chose not to use an intimacy coordinator while filming. She made this decision after discussing it with the director, Sean Baker, and producer, Samantha Quan.

‘We were able to streamline it, shoot it super quickly,’ she said.

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2025-12-26 04:12