Blake Lively gets another major win against Justin Baldoni ahead of trial

Blake Lively may have dropped two emotional distress claims against Justin Baldoni, but she hasn’t dropped the issue entirely.

According to a June 11 court ruling, Lively can still present evidence of emotional distress in her ongoing lawsuit, despite withdrawing those specific claims earlier this month.

On June 2, the Gossip Girl alum moved to dismiss her allegations of intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The decision came after Baldoni’s legal team pushed for access to her medical and mental health records via a HIPAA release.

Instead of complying, Lively opted to drop the claims without prejudice — leaving the door open to reintroduce them later.

Baldoni’s team criticised the move, arguing she was trying to “have it both ways.”

But Judge Lewis J. Liman clarified that while she can’t introduce new evidence for those dismissed claims, she is allowed to present emotional distress evidence tied to her remaining allegations — including sexual harassment and retaliation.

In a statement to People, Lively’s lawyers said, “Her decision to dismiss her specific causes of action for emotional distress does not bar her from presenting this evidence because emotional distress is an element of many of her remaining claims.”

The courtroom battle began in December when Lively accused Baldoni of misconduct on set of It Ends With Us. He denied all allegations and filed a $400 million countersuit, which has since been dismissed.

The trial is scheduled for March 2026.