NEW YORK — The judge overseeing Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s case has denied a request from Baldoni’s legal team for an extension to depose Taylor Swift, according to a ruling obtained by CNN.
Baldoni’s legal team had requested an extension to the end of October to depose Swift.
“The only justification they have provided for the extension is their assertion that swift’s preexisting professional obligations now prevent her from appearing for a deposition prior to October 20, 2025,” Judge Lewis Liman wrote in his ruling on Friday evening, regarding the Baldoni parties.
in his ruling, Judge Liman indicated that Baldoni’s legal team waited until the eleventh hour to request an extension to depose Swift.
“Finding has been ongoing in this case for approximately six months,” the judge wrote. “They have offered no evidence that they have served a renewed subpoena on Swift… Having failed to demonstrate appropriate diligence, the requested extension is denied.”
CNN has reached out to Baldoni and Lively’s representatives for comment on the judge’s ruling.
On Thursday, Baldoni’s attorneys said in a court filing that Swift had agreed to be deposed in the ongoing civil litigation between “it Ends With us” co-stars Lively and Baldoni. But Swift’s attorneys disputed that she ever agreed to sit for a deposition.
In a letter to the court from Baldoni’s legal team, they wrote that Swift has agreed to be deposed in the case but was unable to do so prior to October 20, due to prior professional commitments. (Swift’s 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” is set to be released on October 3.)
But in a letter to the court in response, dated earlier on friday and obtained by CNN, an attorney for Swift said she had not agreed to be deposed and would only do so if required by the court.
“Since the inception of this matter we have consistently maintained that my client has no material role in this action,” an attorney for Swift wrote.
“Further, my client did not agree to a deposition, but if she is forced into a deposition, we advised (after first hearing about the deposition just three days ago) that her schedule would accommodate the time required during the week of October 20 if the parties