The ongoing legal dispute between It Ends With Us co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni escalated Tuesday over Lively's decision to withdraw claims of emotional distress from her lawsuit.
In her original lawsuit, Lively claimed she experienced "severe emotional distress" after Baldoni and key stakeholders in It Ends With Us allegedly sexually harassed her and allegedly attempted, along with Baldoni's production company, Wayfarer Studios, to orchestrate a smear campaign against her.
Lively and Baldoni's legal feud began after Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department in December, accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of It Ends With Us, which he also directed.
Baldoni accused Lively of having "robbed" him and Wayfarer Studios LLC of control of It Ends with Us, which he also directed, as well as destroying Baldoni's "personal and professional reputations and livelihood." He accused Sloane of having gone "so far as to propagate malicious stories portraying Baldoni as a sexual predator" and Reynolds of using the term to describe Baldoni in a call with Baldoni's agent. The suit claims Reynolds told Baldoni's rep to "drop" him as a client.