Blake Lively Drops Bombshell Claims Against Justin Baldoni To Avoid Sharing Medical Records

Yahoo

2 days ago

Blake Lively has made a surprising legal move in her ongoing dispute with Justin Baldoni. The actress is seeking to withdraw her claims of intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress against her 'It Ends With Us' co-star and director.
This decision comes after Baldoni's legal team requested access to Lively's medical and mental health records to substantiate her distress claims.
While Lively's team describes the withdrawal as a procedural step, Baldoni's attorneys argue it is an attempt to avoid disclosing sensitive information.
On Monday, June 2, court documents revealed that Lively had requested to withdraw claims that Baldoni caused her emotional distress while filming 'It Ends With Us.'
The decision to drop the claims came after Baldoni's team requested that Lively sign a release form for them to access her mental health and medical records.
The actor's team noted that the medical records were important to Lively's allegations.
'Instead of complying with the Medical RFPs, Ms. Lively's counsel recently advised us, in writing, that Ms. Lively is withdrawing her [infliction of emotional distress] claims,' Baldoni's team wrote in the court papers addressed to Judge Lewis J. Liman in U.S. District Court Southern District of New York per Page Six.
They noted that Lively's lack of compliance meant that she wanted to maintain the right to refile her emotional distress claims at a later date after the discovery window had closed.
In response to the filing, the 37-year-old's lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, told the Daily Mail that the withdrawal of the claims was a procedural step to focus on the more substantial allegations.
'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,' they shared.
Hudson and Gottlieb also told the publication that Blake Lively still 'alleged 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.'
Baldoni and Lively's legal tussle began in December 2024 when the 'Gossip Girl' filed a sexual harassment complaint against the 41-year-old, alleging misconduct and a retaliation smear campaign after she spoke up.
In the filing, the mother of four claimed that Baldoni's behavior during and after filming had emotionally affected her.
According to Lively, the emotional impact was so extreme that it also affected her family, including her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and their kids.
Among many allegations, the Hollywood icon claimed that Baldoni walked into her makeup trailer uninvited while she was breastfeeding, talked about a previous pornography addiction, alluded to past non-consensual sexual encounters, and asked Lively to divulge details of her own 'intimate life.'
Baldoni strongly denied the sexual harassment allegations made by Blake Lively, calling them 'false, malicious, and defamatory.'
The filmmaker responded to her lawsuit by filing a $400 million countersuit for defamation and extortion.
In his filing, Baldoni accused Lively and her husband of launching a coordinated campaign to destroy his reputation and career.
He claimed that Lively's accusations were not only baseless but were also used as leverage to gain control over the film's narrative and outcome.
Baldoni also alleged that after he refused to comply with certain demands, the couple retaliated by spreading damaging falsehoods both privately and publicly.
His legal team insisted the countersuit was meant to hold Lively and Reynolds accountable for their 'smear campaign,' and he maintained that he has always upheld a professional environment on and off set.
The director didn't stop there; he dragged Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift into the feud.
He subpoenaed the singer and also sent a legal letter alleging that Blake Lively threatened to leak a decade's worth of text messages if Swift didn't publicly back her up.
However, Lively's team denied the claims and asked that the subpoena be withdrawn, which the court granted.
Despite the subpoena being dropped, insiders have claimed that Lively and Swift's relationship is no longer the same.
'There's been radio silence between Taylor and Blake since the subpoena was dropped,' a source told Us Weekly.
They also revealed that their previously tight-knit friendship had 'stalled' under the weight of 'legal tension,' and the emotional fallout had created enough distance that 'they won't pick up where they left off.'