UPDATE Tuesday:
A judge has granted Blake Lively’s request to remove claims of emotional distress from her legal action against “It Ends With Us” co-star and director Justin Baldoni. Judge Lewis Liman on Tuesday denied Baldoni’s motion to compel because “the parties have agreed to dismiss Ms. Lively’s 10th and 11th causes of action” without prejudice, meaning the court “will preclude Lively from offering any evidence of emotional distress” in the future.
PREVIOUSLY Monday:
Blake Lively is trying to withdraw previous claims Justin Baldoni inflicted emotional distress after the “It Ends With Us” director sought discovery of her medical records in their ongoing legal feud, a Monday filing shows.
Baldoni’s team wanted Lively to sign a HIPAA release to gain access to her therapy notes and other materials. Lively’s team moved to withdraw the emotional distress claims, but in a way Baldoni’s team deemed unsatisfactory.
“Ms. Lively has refused the Wayfarer Parties’ reasonable request that the withdrawal of such claims be with prejudice,” the filing read. “She is only willing to withdraw her claims without prejudice. In other words, Ms. Lively wants to simultaneously: (a) refuse to disclose the information and documents needed to disprove that she suffered any emotional distress and/or that the Wayfarer Parties were the cause; and (b) maintain the right to re-file her IED Claims at an unknown time in this or some other court after the discovery window has closed.”
The filing continued: “Ms. Lively cannot have it both ways. If Ms. Lively wants to withdraw her frivolous IED Claims, the Wayfarer Parties are entitled to a dismissal with prejudice to ensure they will not be re-filed. If Ms. Lively is unwilling to stipulate to the dismissal of her IED Claims with prejudice, then the Wayfarer Parties will continue to defend against them, and she must produce her medical information and documents as set forth herein.”
It is now up to Judge Lewis Limon and the court to decide whether or not Lively can withdraw her claims – and if so whether it is done with or without prejudice. The inflection of emotional distress claims were important pieces to her original lawsuit again Baldoni, which she filed in December 2024 following his defamation suit against the New York Times for a story written about set and press tour conditions on “It Ends With Us.”
“Once again this is a routine part of the litigation process that is being used as a press stunt,” Lively’s lawyers Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb said in a statement to TheWrap. “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 Baldoni-Wayfarer strategy of filing retaliatory claims has exposed them to expansive new damages claims under California law, rendering certain of Ms. Lively’s original claims no longer necessary. Ms. Lively 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.”
