Actress Blake Lively has made an effort to withdraw two specific allegations she leveled against director Justin Baldoni, amid a legal battle that has been raging since December 2024. The saga began when Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni following their collaborative effort on the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's bestseller, It Ends With Us. She accused him of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her.
As part of Baldoni's defense against Lively's claims of enduring "severe emotional distress, pain, humiliation, and embarrassment," his legal team requested access to her medical records, including therapy notes, according to Variety. Now, Lively is attempting to withdraw her claims pertaining to intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The court will ultimately decide whether to grant her request or compel her to disclose information related to her mental health.
Variety reached out to Baldoni's legal representatives, who declined to comment on the matter. In documents submitted by Baldoni's legal team on Monday, it was stated: "Rather than complying with the Medical RFPs [Request for Proposal], Ms. Lively's counsel recently informed us in writing that Ms. Lively is withdrawing her claims of emotional distress infliction." The documents further noted that Lively had refused their "reasonable request" to withdraw these claims with prejudice, leaving the door open for them to be refiled in the future.
Lively's legal team dismissed Baldoni's filing as a "press stunt" and emphasized that her defense was merely "streamlining and focusing" her case. They added, "The Baldoni-Wayfarer strategy of filing retaliatory claims has exposed them to potential new damages under California law, rendering some of Ms. Lively's original claims no longer necessary. Ms. Lively still alleges emotional distress as part of her lawsuit, alongside other claims such as sexual harassment, retaliation, and seeking substantial compensatory damages for all her claims."
Earlier this year, Baldoni countersued Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, accusing them of civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy. The dispute between Lively and Baldoni has been ongoing since the release of It Ends With Us last summer, in which Lively portrayed the lead character, Lily Bloom, a young woman who grew up witnessing domestic abuse and later found herself in a similar situation.
Last month, singer Taylor Swift was summoned to a US court amidst allegations that she encouraged Baldoni to accept script rewrites suggested by Lively. Representatives for Swift clarified at the time that she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions related to the film and had never seen an edit or made any notes on it. The subpoena was dropped approximately two weeks later, after Swift's legal team argued that the legal order amounted to an "unwarranted fishing expedition," as reported by Variety.
