Blake Lively Drops Emotional Distress Claims in Legal Battle with Justin Baldoni

New filings reveal Lively’s strategic withdrawal of emotional distress claims in her lawsuit against Baldoni, while broader allegations of harassment and retaliation remain at the forefront.

Blake Lively is scaling back some of her claims in the high-profile legal showdown with Justin Baldoni, according to newly filed court documents. In her ongoing lawsuit against her It Ends with Us director and co-star, Lively, 37, has moved to withdraw her claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

On Tuesday, June 2, Lively filed a request in the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York to dismiss these claims without prejudice—meaning she retains the right to revive them in the future. Her decision comes amid heated demands from Baldoni’s lawyer, Kevin Fritz, who filed a letter to Judge Lewis J. Liman asking the court to compel Lively to release her medical and mental health records, including therapy notes, through a HIPAA authorization.

Fritz’s filing argues that Lively’s refusal to provide this information while seeking to withdraw the claims creates a legal contradiction. “Ms. Lively cannot have it both ways,” the filing reads, suggesting she wants to avoid producing the documents needed to counter her claims while retaining the right to refile them later.

Lively’s attorneys, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, pushed back forcefully in a statement to PEOPLE, calling the latest filing a “press stunt” and a routine part of the legal process. “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 stated.

Despite the withdrawal of emotional distress claims, Lively’s core allegations remain: her lawsuit includes claims of sexual harassment, retaliation, and substantial compensatory damages. These are tied to her accusations that Baldoni engaged in misconduct on the set of the Colleen Hoover adaptation and orchestrated a retaliatory smear campaign against her. Baldoni, 41, has denied all allegations.

The bitter legal clash, which also ensnared Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds and their publicists after Baldoni filed a countersuit in January, has gripped public attention since it emerged last December. In her original complaint, Lively said Baldoni’s actions had an “extreme” emotional impact on her and her family, including her husband and their four children.

In a statement to The New York Times at the time, 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.”

Both lawsuits—Lively v. Wayfarer Studios et al. and Baldoni’s countersuit—are set for trial in March 2026. As the legal battle continues to unfold, it’s clear that while some claims may be off the table for now, the broader fight is far from over.