Last summer, as Blake Lively faced criticism for seemingly not taking the domestic violence plot of her latest film seriously, her best friend Taylor Swift was right by her side, providing support.

The It Ends With Us star was seen at Swift’s mansion in Rhode Island in August, seeking some peace at the $17 million, eight-bedroom home with her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and their four children.

By October, these friends of a decade reunited for more fun, this time going on a double date with Reynolds and Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, at the trendy New York venue The Corner Store.

Weeks later, Lively and Reynolds were jetting down to New Orleans to see Swift’s Eras Tour and – for a moment – it seemed the singer’s star power had done the trick. The It Ends With Us drama was all but forgotten.

That was until Lively unleashed legal warfare against her co-star and director Justin Baldoni in December – kickstarting a months-long media storm that shows little sign of abating.

And Swift, for all those public displays of loyalty, has found herself repaid by being unwillingly dragged into the rancorous saga: named in legal documents and even, momentarily, subpoenaed as a witness.

The whole furore has reportedly left Swift feeling ‘exploited’ by Lively – who the singer believes has used her name for leverage.

Then last week saw a shocking escalation, as Baldoni’s legal team alleged in a court letter that, as things got ugly, the 37-year-old actress had tired to coerce Swift, 35, into publicly siding with her against Baldoni by threatening to leak years’ worth of their private text exchanges.

Lively denies the allegation but the Daily Mail understands that intimate revelations about Swift’s past and present romantic relationships are contained in the trove of texts.

It’s perhaps little surprise then that Swift – godmother to Lively’s three daughters – is said to be ‘relieved’ their decade-long bond is now over.

‘Right now, if Taylor had one wish it would be that she never met Blake,’ an insider told the Daily Mail. ‘Although there have been good times during their relationship, the issues now concerning the Baldoni case have outweighed them.

‘When Taylor looks back at their friendship, she realizes it wasn’t worth all the stress Blake put her through. She can now see all the red flags that should have been a warning to her.

‘Taylor had to tone Blake down time and time again because she always wanted to be the leader of the pack. Taylor’s relieved the relationship is over. She put up with Blake’s antics for too long because she’s a loyal friend. It took the It Ends With Us drama to finally get her to pull the trigger on it.’

It is understood that a dutiful Kelce is following suit in cutting off Lively and Reynolds.

‘Taylor and Travis are disgusted with Blake and Ryan and how they tried to use Taylor in their fight against Justin Baldoni,’ our insider said. ‘They’re vowing their break from the acting couple is permanent.’ 

The drama began when Lively accused Baldoni in December of sexual harassment and coordinating a smear campaign against her. 

In January, Baldoni fired back with a blistering countersuit accusing Lively and Reynolds of defamation – and attempts to smear him. All parties have strenuously denied the allegations. 

But contained in Baldoni’s filing were screenshots of texts messages in which Lively regularly mentioned Swift by name.

In one now infamous and toe-curling exchange, Lively appears to refer to herself as the character Khaleesi – from Game of Thrones – and to Swift as one of her ‘dragons’.

Elsewhere in Baldoni’s filing is the claim the Swift was present at a meeting, convened by Lively at her New York penthouse to discuss It Ends With Us script changes.

Sources close to Swift insist the singer had no knowledge of the meeting and simply turned up to find it underway.

After Swift was subpoenaed earlier this month – a move that was dramatically reversed by Baldoni’s lawyers Thursday – her representative made a rare and clear statement: ‘Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film, she did not even see It Ends With Us until weeks after its public release.’