Blake Lively has suffered another courtroom blow in her ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni after a New York judge threw a curveball in her attempt to withdraw her ’emotional distress’ claims against the actor.
Court filings obtained by the Daily Mail reveal the two parties had been slugging it out over the actress’s claims that her co-star had caused her emotional distress, with Baldoni’s team demanding she provide proof from her medical records.
But Lively’s team instead attempted to quietly drop that element from her blockbuster lawsuit on Friday but, critically, without prejudice – meaning the claim could be refiled at a later date.
In a letter filed on Monday, Lively argued that she voluntarily sought to withdraw the claim in ‘good faith to streamline the dispute’, and filed a motion to block Baldoni’s request for her medical records.
Now, the Daily Mail can reveal that Judge Lewis Liman on Tuesday agreed to deny Baldoni’s demands for her medical records based on Lively’s decision to drop the claims, however, he also ruled that both sides will now have to negotiate whether her emotional distress element will be dismissed from the case permanently.
In another blow, Judge Liman said even if the claims are not dismissed, Lively’s team will no longer be able to produce evidence of emotional distress in court.
The 24-hour legal spat has already seen claims and counterclaims traded by both sides, with Baldoni’s team saying the 37-year-old is trying to ‘have it both ways’.
Blake Lively’s, 37, legal case against It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni has hit a major snag as the judge ruled she wouldn’t be able to produce evidence of ’emotional distress’ in court
The hotly contested claim by Baldoni’s, 41, team – who’s been locked in a 24-hour showdown with Lively’s over her not producing her medical records as evidence of ’emotional distress – is now the subject of a negotiation between the warring sides
Last night, legal representatives for Lively hit back with a furious statement accusing Baldoni of orchestrating a ‘press stunt’ and saying they had offered to drop the emotional distress claims in ‘good faith’.
In a statement released to the Daily Mail, attorneys Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb said: ‘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 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.’
Then, in a fiery letter obtained by the Daily Mail, Gottleib and Hudson attempted to have Baldoni’s motion to compel medical records dismissed, arguing it was based on ‘two brazenly false assertions’.
The duo have been locked in a tense legal battle over incidents which occurred during the creation of their film It Ends With Us, which is based on the 2016 bestseller by Colleen Hoover
Last night, legal representatives for Lively hit back with a furious statement accusing Baldoni of orchestrating a ‘press stunt’ and saying they had offered to drop the emotional distress claims in ‘good faith’
Baldoni’s team said Lively is trying to ‘have it both ways’ and had refused to produce her therapy notes – despite them potentially containing evidence of emotional distress
But that move has now failed thanks to Judge Liman, with Lively’s emotional distress claims now off the table.
Despite today’s win, Baldoni will still have to defend himself over her other claims which include sexual harassment and the orchestration of a smear campaign against her.
The 41-year-old is also pursuing a $400million countersuit of his own that also claims defamation and accuses the glamorous blonde of damaging his reputation and career.
The legal spat has produced months of negative headlines for Lively who has also had to look on as her friendship with superstar bestie Taylor Swift deteriorates in public, largely due to the singer’s fury at being dragged into the case.
Last month, the singer found herself on the receiving end of a now withdrawn subpoena and in the middle of a row over whether Lively had tried to force her to issue a supportive message by threatening to release a decade’s worth of text messages.
The former provoked a stinging response from her rep who said the megastar had had nothing to do with It Ends With Us beyond providing a song for the soundtrack.
Baldoni, 41, is also pursuing a $400M defamation countersuit of his own that accusing glamorous blonde of damaging his reputation and career
Taylor Swift, 36, was dragged into the saga in January due to Baldoni’s claim that Lively referred to the megastar and husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, as ‘my dragons’ and threatened to unleash them upon him if he refused to go along with her changes to a scene
The statement read: ‘Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film, she did not even see It Ends With Us until weeks after its public release, and was traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history.’
Her spokesperson added: ‘The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, ‘My Tears Ricochet.
‘Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.’
