NEED TO KNOW
- Blake Lively has requested the withdrawal without prejudice of two of her claims, relating to the infliction of emotional distress, against It Ends with Us director-costar Justin Baldoni
- After requesting that Lively produce relevant medical information, Baldoni’s legal team filed a letter to court asserting that they’re entitled to a dismissal of those claims with prejudice so they won’t be re-filed
- “We are doing what trial lawyers do: preparing our case for trial by streamlining and focusing it,” Lively’s lawyers said of the move
Blake Lively is abandoning some of her claims against Justin Baldoni, new legal filings show.
In the latest volley in her ongoing court battle with her It Ends with Us director-costar over their behind-the-scenes conflict, Lively, 37, requested on Tuesday, June 2 to withdraw and dismiss her claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Kevin Fritz, a lawyer for Baldoni, 41, filed a letter addressed to Judge Lewis J. Liman in U.S. District Court Southern District of New York requesting “an order compelling Blake Lively to identify her medical and mental health care providers” by signing a HIPAA release for access to therapy notes and relevant medical information.
The document adds that “instead of complying,” Lively requested to withdraw claims of emotional distress without prejudice. Doing so, it alleges, means that Lively refuses “to disclose the information and documents needed to disprove that she suffered any emotional distress” and seeks to “maintain the right to re-file her [infliction of emotional distress claims] at an unknown time in this or some other court after the discovery window has closed… Ms. Lively cannot have it both ways.”
Lively’s lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, responded in a statement shared with PEOPLE, “Once again, this is a routine part of the litigation process that is being used as a press stunt. We are doing what trial lawyers do: preparing our case for trial by streamlining and focusing it; they are doing what they do: desperately seeking another tired round of tabloid coverage.”
The Gossip Girl actress “continues to allege emotional distress, as part of numerous other claims in her lawsuit, such as sexual harassment and retaliation, and massive additional compensatory damages on all of her claims.”
The costars’ conflict began last December, when Lively filed a sexual-harassment complaint against Baldoni, alleging misconduct on the Colleen Hoover adaptation’s set and a retaliatory smear campaign, which he has denied. The Jane the Virgin alum countersued Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and their publicists in January, alleging extortion, defamation and more. Both cases in Lively v. Wayfarer Studios et al. are scheduled for trial in March 2026.
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In the original filing, Lively alleged that due to Baldoni’s behavior during and after the filming of It Ends with Us, “the emotional impact” on her “has been extreme, not only affecting her, but her family, including her husband and four children.”
In a statement given to The New York Times in December, Lively said, “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”
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