Blake Lively is reportedly withdrawing part of her lawsuit against director and co-star Justin Baldoni amid growing pressure from his legal team to obtain her private medical records.
The Gossip Girl star, 37, had accused Baldoni, 41, of intentionally and negligently causing her emotional distress while they were working together on the 2024 romantic drama It Ends With Us, based on the bestselling novel by US author Colleen Hoover.
However, reports now say Lively is dropping those claims after Baldoni’s lawyers moved to compel her to release therapy notes and other health-related documents.
Baldoni’s team, representing his production company Wayfarer Studios, filed a motion on Monday asking the court to force Lively to sign a release granting them access to her medical history. In response, the mother-of-four’s legal team confirmed she intends to withdraw the emotional distress claims - but only “without prejudice,” meaning she could choose to bring them back in the future.
In court filings, Baldoni’s lawyers criticised the move, accusing Lively of attempting to avoid handing over documents that could undermine her claims while keeping the option to revive them later.
“Ms Lively wants to simultaneously refuse to disclose information needed to disprove the claims and maintain the right to refile them at any time,” the filing states.
Lively’s legal team pushed back, calling the filing “a press stunt” and insisting they are narrowing the case to focus on more serious issues.
Her lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, told Variety that Baldoni and Wayfarer’s legal strategy had exposed them to “expansive new damages” under California law, making some of Lively’s original claims unnecessary.
They added that emotional distress remains part of her broader lawsuit, which includes allegations of sexual harassment, retaliation, and a campaign to damage her career.
Lively filed the suit in January. Baldoni has denied all allegations and filed a countersuit, claiming Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, tried to sabotage his reputation.
The two sides are not set to face each other in court until March 26 2026.
The Standard has contacted representatives for both Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni for comment.
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