Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni standoff escalates
The legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni continues, reports E! News.
In their latest showdown, Lively's team has rejected Baldoni's team's claims that her decision to drop charges of intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress is related to her refusal to share related medical records, CE Report quotes Kosova Press.
"Once again, this is a routine part of the legal process being used as a press stunt," Lively's lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, said in a statement to E! News. "We are doing what trial lawyers do: we are preparing the case for trial by simplifying and focusing it; they are doing what they usually do: they are desperately seeking another round of tiresome tabloid coverage."
They added: "Ms. Lively continues to allege emotional distress, as part of several other claims in her lawsuit, such as sexual harassment and retaliation, and seeks substantial compensatory damages for all of her claims."
A letter filed by her team on June 2 and obtained by E! News claims that legal teams from both sides met via teleconference and agreed to have these claims dropped from the case — with "moderate amendments" from Lively's side, to which Baldoni's side reportedly had no objections or concerns.
However, the letter states that later that day, after the teleconference, the Wayfarer Parties (which includes Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and other defendants) filed a motion in court alleging that Lively was dropping the charges because she refused to provide medical information relevant to her claims of emotional distress.
Lively's letter also asks Judge Lewis Liman to dismiss these claims "without prejudice," meaning she can bring them up again at a later time, if she wishes.
In response, Baldoni's team opposed the request, writing in a document obtained by Variety: "In other words, Ms. Lively seeks to simultaneously: (a) decline to provide the information and documents necessary to dispute that she suffered any emotional distress and/or that the Wayfarer parties are liable for it; and (b) reserve the right to re-file the emotional distress claims at an unknown time in this or any other court after the discovery period has expired."
However, Lively's team strongly denied this claim. "To suggest that Ms. Lively has 'refused' to present any information (whether in her written responses to discovery, at the inter-party conference, or at any other time thereafter) regarding these allegations is a deliberate attempt to mislead the Court and the intended audience for this false picture: the public," her team wrote in the June 2 letter.
