She isn't an actress, but judging from her performance last Thursday the CEO of Time magazine, Jessica Sibley, might just have missed her calling. Addressing the presence of actress Blake Lively at the Time 100 event, a gala honouring the 'world's most influential people', she said with a broad smile: 'I think she's having a great year.' Hang on – Blake Lively is having a great year? This is the actress who, having launched a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment by co-star Justin Baldoni and claimed a global smear campaign was then mounted against her, has found herself buried under an avalanche of lawsuits and counter-allegations. Meghan Markle aside, surely nobody has endured a more insistent drumbeat of negative publicity than Lively in 2025. And this week her year became a whole lot worse. For, as the Mail can exclusively reveal, the actress's best friend Taylor Swift – almost certainly the most powerful woman in showbusiness – has been dropped, centre-stage, into the whole unsalutary mess, and served with a subpoena by Baldoni's lawyers. After weeks of rumours that it was coming, the subpoena has been issued compelling Swift to submit to an interview by Baldoni's 'streetfighter' lawyer Bryan Freedman under oath – never a pleasant experience for anyone. Freedman is one of the most powerful and feared litigators in the entertainment industry. He has represented actors and celebrities including Kevin Spacey, accused of assault; Kate Beckinsale; Julia Roberts and Bella Thorne. A source said: 'Taylor Swift has now been subpoenaed. Some subpoenas are being sent this week, some depositions are in the process now of being scheduled. People often push back and say that they can't for various reasons, but you really cannot get out of it.' And that's not all: I can further reveal that Swift's boyfriend, the American football star Travis Kelce, will soon receive a subpoena of his own, as will Lively and Reynolds' friend, Wolverine star Hugh Jackman. The news will come as yet another heavy blow – possibly the heaviest and most painful yet – to the 37-year-old Lively, who made her name in the hit teen series, Gossip Girl, in the late 2000s. No one, wherever their loyalties lie, can dispute that Blake Lively has had a horrendous year, since rumours of difficulties between her and co-star Justin Baldoni during the filming of their hit 2024 movie, It Ends With Us, first emerged last August. The argument was turbo-charged three months later when she filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, only for him to promptly countersue both her, and her husband Ryan Reynolds, for $400 million, accusing the couple of effectively shutting him out of his own film (he was the director as well as leading man) and ruining his career. A court date has been set for next March. In fact, speaking on Late Night With Seth Meyers on Thursday night, Lively herself went some way to setting the story straight about what sort of year she's been having. Calling it 'pretty intense', she said: 'This year has been full of the highest highs and lowest lows of my life.' But how did squeaky clean American sweetheart – and billionaire – Taylor Swift get dragged into this? And why will Lively be taking it so badly? The background is that Swift has been Lively's best friend for years. She is the godmother to all four of Lively's children and the two 'besties' celebrated together when Travis Kelce played in the Super Bowl last year. Yet an almighty crack started to appear in the friendship in January when papers were released by Baldoni's lawyers in which he described one of the key moments in the souring of his relationship with Lively. This, he alleged, came during an awkward meeting with her, Reynolds and Swift, at the couple's penthouse in New York, in which he said he felt pressured into accepting co-star Lively's rewrites to the It Ends With Us script. To back this up, Baldoni quoted a text message from Lively in which she talked about her 'dragons' and compared herself to the character Khaleesi in Game Of Thrones. The message ran: '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.' Baldoni said that he read this as a threat, and the 'dragons' Lively was referring to were Swift and Reynolds. He texted back saying that the script changes were 'so much more fun and interesting' and that he 'would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor'. There has definitely been a distinct distance between the two women since the lawsuit began. Lively was not invited to attend the annual Super Bowl with Swift in February, and reports circulated that Swift was 'dismayed' to have been dragged into the drama. She said nothing in defence of Lively, for years her dearest friend – and her silence appeared to speak volumes. It's a contrast to her public statement in 2016 in support of the singer Kesha, who accused music producer Dr Luke of rape. Swift donated $250,000 to Kesha and authorised her spokesman to make a statement in support of her. The music producer denied the accusation, and both parties settled the case out of court in 2023. A little over a week ago, US magazine People – apparently briefed by pro-Lively sources – published a piece saying that the two women's friendship was back on track, much to Lively's 'relief' after a difficult period. 'Blake knew she and Taylor would come back from this at some point and that their friendship wasn't done for good,' the insider said. 'Taylor was really hurt by this situation, so she's relieved they were able to recover from this and put it all behind them because it wasn't something she took lightly.' Yet, embarrassingly, days later there came another almighty bombshell when Kelce stopped following Reynolds on Instagram. In a world where a thumbs up or down on social media speaks more words than People magazine could fit in a whole article, everyone was left in no doubt as to the real state of Lively and Swift's friendship. Swift does not, herself, follow anyone on Instagram, but Kelce following Reynolds was one outward sign of the close relationship between the couples – and now that's gone. At around the same time, Swift was a guest at their mutual friend Gigi Hadid's 30th birthday party in New York – and Blake Lively was nowhere to be seen, adding to the impression that she is now being shunned by Swift and her friendship group. Gossip columnist Rob Shuter said that the model 'had to pick between Taylor and Blake... and, ultimately, she picked Taylor'. Despite her fortune and influence, there is nothing Swift can do to avoid the stress of being dragged into the Baldoni/Lively court case next year. Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, will want to quiz her about her relationship with Lively, and just what she was doing at the marital penthouse on the night when Baldoni was summoned to discuss Lively's rewrites of his script. She will be compelled to turn over any emails, texts or other communications she has had with Lively about Baldoni. And she will be asked to give her own account of that meeting, which Baldoni has complained amounted to the start of a series of acts which strong-armed him out of the movie which he had co-written and was directing and acting in. At what point, Freedman will ask, did Lively allege that Baldoni had sexually harassed her? And what exactly did she say he had done – if anything? With both Swift and Kelce prizing their privacy, you can't imagine it will be a comfortable exchange. And there are more to come, as a source tells the Mail: 'The case is now progressing through subpoenas and depositions. That will carry on over the summer. 'Nobody is talking about settling from Blake's side, even though pretty much everyone you talk to says that it's obvious that it would be in their interests to settle this damaging fight as quickly as possible.' I'm told that Reynolds' friend Hugh Jackman, who appeared alongside him in Deadpool & Wolverine, is also being drawn into the fray over Reynolds' character of Nicepool in the film, which Baldoni's lawyers are arguing was a 'mocking depiction' of Baldoni. Among other things, the character has a 'man bun' hairstyle, which Baldoni himself sported for some time. The pressure on Lively and Reynolds, then, continues to mount. They have the public backing of Ari Emanuel, who is the powerful boss of entertainment agents WME, which represents both stars. Earlier this year he admitted to having the agency drop Baldoni, who was also a client, because of the falling out between the co-stars. Some believe that Emanuel may well have pulled strings to get Lively honoured by Time. Her inclusion in the event was supported by 'civil rights superhero' Sherrilyn Ifill and rests on Lively's reputation as a philanthropist following donations, of $200,000 and of $1 million, to civil rights charities, back in 2020 and 2021. In the circumstances, you would have expected Lively to use her speech at the Time event to refer to issues of race and discrimination. But no. She recounted, in vague yet emotive terms, an assault many years ago on her mother, and tied it implicitly with her alleged experience of sexual harassment on It Ends With Us. Afterwards, her mother Elaine McAlpin was seen turning to her daughter and asking her: 'Should I cry?' miming a tear falling with her finger. Lively turns to her mother, holds her hand and advises her that she should 'just sit down'. There was immediately uproar online. Many pointed out that, while promoting It Ends With Us, a film about domestic violence, she mentioned nothing about her mother's traumatic experience. In fact, she even expressly said that she was fortunate enough to have had no experience of domestic violence. Yet Lively hasn't given up the public relations battle just yet. There have been a flurry of press tours, and red carpet appearances, and private jet flights, criss-crossing the Atlantic to promote her new film, Another Simple Favour. Last Saturday, she and Reynolds were in Wrexham, cheering on the Welsh football club he co-owns, as they secured an emphatic 3-0 victory over Charlton – and promotion to the Championship. The following evening, they were back in New York for the premiere of Lively's new movie. On Tuesday, they were out again – Lively in an all-leather ensemble, with studded boots – to support Jackman in his new off-Broadway play, Sexual Misconduct Of The Middle Classes. And then, on Thursday, she appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers, where again she picked up the narrative of abuse victim, speaking out. 'I see so many women around afraid to speak, especially now, afraid to share their experience,' she said. 'Fear is by design, it's what keeps us silent. But I also acknowledge that many people don't have the opportunity to speak, so I do feel fortunate that I have been able to.' She also played a powerful relatable card, explaining how her four children James, Inez, Betty and Olin, have served as her 'lifeline', adding: 'No matter what day I am having, I have to be Disneyland for them. It's the best, it's chaos.' There are still ten whole, painful months to go until the opening credits of the biggest drama of her career – the courtroom battle with Baldoni – roll. No doubt we will continue to see a lot more of Blake Lively from now on.