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American commentator, Candace Owens, alleged in one of her latest videos that Blake Lively used her best friend Taylor Swift's connections to take the help of a renowned journalist and bring down Justin Baldoni. Owens has referred to NY Times journalist Ronan Farrow in her theory, alongside Megan Twohey.
In a viral video on her YouTube channel, Candace Owens drew attention to a video and some articles alleging a friendship between Taylor Swift and Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow. She also mentioned NY Times journalist Megan Twohey, who was notably one of the writers of the December 21 article on the publication based on Lively's allegations against Justin Baldoni.
Owens' theory suggests that Blake Lively used her best friend Taylor Swift's connections to take help from Ronan Farrow and Megan Twohey in her case against Justin Baldoni. She alleged that Twohey wrote a lengthy "take down" piece against Baldoni on December 21 based on Lively's allegations to "bring him down." The piece in question led Baldoni to file a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times accusing them of promissory fraud.
Owens also criticized the MeToo movement, claiming she has been fighting against it for years. She added that she believes in "due process" while the MeToo movement has destroyed multiple people's lives through allegations. The commentator alleged that something similar was happening in Justin Baldoni's case as Lively has accused the actor of s*xual harassment among other allegations.
It is worth noting that Ronan Farrow and Megan Twohey are often credited with spearheading the MeToo movement that led to women from various parts coming out with their stories of alleged s*xual abuse and harassment. Farrow, Twohey and journalist Jodi Kantor are also credited for their investigative journalism against film producer Harvey Weinstein, who was accused of multiple counts of r*pe and s*xual abuse by several women.
Taylor Swift's involvement in Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal battle explored
Popstar Taylor Swift was first involved in Blake Lively's legal battle with Justin Baldoni when the actress filed a lawsuit against her co-star accusing him of s*xual harassment, inappropriate workplace conduct, and indulging in a campaign to destroy her reputation. The singer was mentioned twice in Lively's complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Department.
According to Blake Lively's lawsuit, Justin Baldoni's publicist from TAG PR, Melissa Nathan wrote a “scenario planning document” where she mentioned Swift. The singer was brought in as an example of how to target Lively, claimed the lawsuit.
“The Scenario Planning document states that TAG could ‘also explore 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’ into getting what they want,’" Lively's complaint stated.
Taylor Swift is once again mentioned in the document in an alleged message from PR publicist Nathan to another PR exec, Jennifer Abel. The message mentioned that since Swift and Lively are friends, the actress has the support of 'Swifties' - a fan-made name for Swift's fans.
“We have seen the most innocuous issues turn giant due to socials or the hugest crisis have no effects on social whatsoever- you just cannot tell at this stage. But, [Lively] does have some of the [Swift] fanbase so we will be taking it extremely seriously," the alleged message included in the complaint read.
The next time Taylor Swift was involved in the ongoing legal drama was in Justin Baldoni's $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist, Leslie Sloane. In his lawsuit, Baldoni alleged that Swift and Reynolds forced him to accept one of the scenes of his 2024 film It Ends With Us rewritten by Blake Lively.
Baldoni, who serves as the director of the film, claimed that his lead actress Blake Lively asked to "take a pass" at the rooftop scene in the film - where Baldoni and Lively's characters first meet. Justin Baldoni claimed he was "reluctant" to let her rewrite the scene but "agreed to take a look at what she put together."
Justin Baldoni added that he did not approve of Lively's rewrite as it was "dramatically different" from the original script. He showed "exceedingly mild resistance" after which Blake Lively went silent for days. The actress allegedly told Baldoni that her husband Ryan Reynolds and her "megacelebrity friend" Taylor Swift were not happy with the director's lukewarm reaction to her rewrite.
Baldoni further claimed that he was "summoned" to Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' New York City penthouse where Swift and Reynolds pressurized him to accept Lively's version of the scene. The actor included an alleged text message from Lively where she compared herself to the Game of Thrones character, Khaleesi.
“If you ever get around to watching Game Of Thrones, you’ll appreciate that I’m Khaleesi, and like her, I happen to have a few dragons. For better or worse, but usually for better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for. So really, we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. You will too, I can promise you," the alleged text said.
Justin Baldoni's complaint claims the "few dragons" refer to Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Swift. Another alleged text from Lively spoke of them and said:
"I think they wanted you and me to see how they felt about [the rewrites] because they've been by my side for far too many experiences where I've been overlooked."
It is worth noting that Taylor Swift's 2020 track My Tears Ricochet from the album Folklore was a part of the official soundtrack of It Ends With Us. Her years-long friendship with Lively is well-known as she is the godmother to Lively's daughters. One of her daughter's voices also features in Swift's 2017 track Gorgeous from Reputation.
The singer has yet to comment on Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal battle publicly.
