Blake Lively drops "emotional distress" claim against Justin Baldoni in ongoing legal dispute

The ruling comes after Baldoni's defence team moved to obtain Lively's medical records.

In a new development in the ongoing legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, the actress has filed a request to withdraw her claims of intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress against Baldoni. According to court documents dated June 2 and reported by Variety, this marks a significant shift in the case.

The ruling comes after Baldoni's defence team moved to obtain Lively's medical records. Lively had previously claimed that the dispute caused her to experience "severe emotional distress and pain, humiliation, embarrassment, belittlement, frustration, and mental anguish."

Blake Lively is currently under pressure from Justin Baldoni's legal team to sign a HIPAA release that would allow them access to her therapy records and other relevant medical data. The request is intended to review documents that may be pertinent to her earlier claims of emotional distress, per the most recent court filing.

The filing read, “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.”

Blake Lively’s attorneys, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, issued a formal response, sharing a statement with PEOPLE addressing the latest developments in the legal case. It read, “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.”

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The conflict started in December of last year when Blake Lively accused Justin of sexual harassment on the set of the Colleen Hoover adaptation and started a retaliatory smear campaign. Justin has vehemently denied the accusations.

In response, Justin filed a countersuit in January against Blake, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their team of publicists, accusing them of extortion, defamation, and other charges. Both lawsuits, under the case Lively v. Wayfarer Studios et al., are currently set to go to trial in March 2026.