Blake Lively allegedly asked Taylor Swift to delete their text messages as part of her ongoing legal battle with actor and director Justin Baldoni.

The actor, 37, has been locked in a legal battle for months with 41-year-old film-maker Baldoni after accusing him of harassment on the set of their film It Ends With Us. Her and Swift’s relationship became entangled in the lawsuit earlier this year.

According to newly filed court documents revealed by Page Six, lawyers representing Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, cite an anonymous source “who is highly likely to have reliable information”, alleging that Lively made the text deletion request to Swift, 35 – though the exact timing of the apparent conversation was not disclosed.

According to the filing, Baldoni’s legal team further alleged Lively’s lead attorney, Michael Gottlieb, had approached Swift’s law firm, Venable, to request a “statement of support” from the pop star.

The court document claims the request carried an implied threat: “If Ms Swift refused to do so, private text messages of a personal nature in Ms Lively’s possession would be released.”