Entertainment
Blake Lively Can Still Argue Emotional Distress in Court
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NEED TO KNOW
- Blake Lively requested the withdrawal without prejudice of two of her claims, relating to the infliction of emotional distress, against It Ends with Us director-costar Justin Baldoni
- Despite the Gossip Girl alumna dropping those claims, Lively can still introduce evidence of emotional damages via other claims — excluding medical records
- The actress “continues to allege emotional distress, as part of numerous other claims in her lawsuit, such as sexual harassment and retaliation, and massive additional compensatory damages on all of her claims” according to her legal team
Despite Blake Lively recently dropping claims against Justin Baldoni of inflicting emotional distress — the actress still has a route to pursue those accusations moving forward.
Amid the actress’ ongoing legal battle with her It Ends with Us director-costar, Lively, 37, requested on Tuesday, June 2 to withdraw and dismiss her claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
The move came after Kevin Fritz, a lawyer for Baldoni, 41, filed a letter addressed to Judge Lewis J. Liman in U.S. District Court Southern District of New York requesting “an order compelling Blake Lively to identify her medical and mental health care providers” by signing a HIPAA release for access to therapy notes and relevant medical information.
The document noted that “instead of complying,” Lively requested to withdraw claims of emotional distress without prejudice. Doing so, the letter alleges, means that Lively refuses “to disclose the information and documents needed to disprove that she suffered any emotional distress” and seeks to “maintain the right to re-file her [infliction of emotional distress claims] at an unknown time in this or some other court after the discovery window has closed… Ms. Lively cannot have it both ways.”
On Wednesday, June 11, Judge Liman clarified via a ruling that “if the claims are not dismissed, the Court will preclude Lively from offering any evidence of emotional distress.” The court did not bar Lively’s team from offering evidence of other emotional distress, per the ruling.
“We are pleased that the Court confirmed today that Ms. Lively can, in fact, present evidence and testimony of her emotional distress, which she intends to do,” Lively’s lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, said in a statement on June 11. “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 Court made that clear today.”
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Following the Another Simple Favor star’s legal team withdrawing two of her claims, relating to the infliction of emotional distress, Hudson and Gottlieb responded in a statement shared with PEOPLE, “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.”
Lively “continues to allege emotional distress, as part of numerous other claims in her lawsuit, such as sexual harassment and retaliation, and massive additional compensatory damages on all of her claims.”
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The costars’ conflict began last December, when Lively filed a sexual-harassment complaint against Baldoni, alleging misconduct on the Colleen Hoover adaptation’s set and a retaliatory smear campaign, which he has denied.
In the original filing, Lively alleged that due to Baldoni’s behavior during and after the filming of It Ends with Us, “the emotional impact” on her “has been extreme, not only affecting her, but her family, including her husband and four children.”
The Jane the Virgin alum countersued Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and their publicists in January for $400 million, alleging extortion, defamation and more. However, the countersuit was dismissed on Monday, June 9, along with Baldoni’s $250 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.
Lively and Baldoni’s trial — during which both are expected to testify — is currently scheduled for March 2026.
Entertainment
Usher boots fan off stage after her painfully awkward response to his seductive dance moves

Usher quickly put a stop to sexily serenading a fan onstage after she got visibly uncomfortable.
In a now-viral moment from the singer’s performance in Nashville on The R&B Tour with Chris Brown on Saturday, a woman from the audience got pulled onstage as the chosen fan Usher sings to. But as a shirtless Usher started singing to her, she looked painfully uncomfortable, though he continued to try to interact with her by lightly touching her chin and face.
But when he tried to get her to recline on the onstage bed and she stiffly moved back, the 47-year-old singer pulled away.
“I don’t think she want to be on the stage, huh?” he asked the audience, looking bewildered.
Eventually, the “Yeah!” singer stepped away from her completely and waved his hand backwards towards the stage in a signal to bring the fan off, looking annoyed as some fans began to boo.
The fan later took to social media to clap back at criticism she received, responding to comments that she should have never agreed to go onstage if she didn’t want to be there.
“First off NOBODY is declining to go on stage,” she wrote. “I looked good asf, you think I wasn’t going to let THOUSANDS of people see me?”
She shared that she and her mom had floor seats to the show, and she was moved up to the VIP section before the concert even started due to “pretty privileges.”
“They don’t say who you’re going up there for!” she wrote. “Y’all wanted me to go up there and f–k him atp?”
On Sunday, she posted selfies, and pointedly captioned her post, “Unbothered 😘.”
But she continued to defend herself on her Instagram Stories, insisting her attitude wasn’t “nasty.”
“Y’all aren’t gonna get on the internet calling me out my name and disrespecting me and expect me to keep it cool!” she expressed, adding, “Don’t think that yall are gonna bully me about an experience that yall didn’t get!”
Usher is known for his spicy concert interactions with fans. His bodyguard hilariously went viral in 2024 for seemingly looking disgusted on the Past Present Future Tour, during the part of the singer’s show when he would let audience members seductively eat cherries.
Usher’s co-headliner, Chris Brown, also went viral in September 2025 but for an entirely different reaction that he got to pulling a fan onstage — that fan being Travis Kelce’s ex Kayla Nicole.
Brown, 37, gave Nicole, 34, a sensual lap dance while singing his 2007 hit, “Take You Down,” during the singer’s Breezy Bowl XX Tour stop in Los Angeles, prompting mixed reaction online. Some fans thought the two went too far, while others praised Nicole for seizing the moment.
Entertainment
John Cusack reveals why he stepped away from Hollywood after decades of films

John Cusack opened up about why he’s largely taken a step back from Hollywood.
The “Being John Malkovich” star, 60, said he wanted to tell stories without studio executives weighing in, prompting him to write his upcoming graphic novel “Momo.”
“I always thought [graphic novels] were the closest things to film, really,” he told Variety at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday. “You’re picking out shots, they’re so cinematic.”
Cusack explained he turned to writing because he “didn’t [want to] negotiate telling a story.”
“When you ask somebody to put $20 million or $30 million into a bank account [for a film], they want to have an opinion and they’re afraid and all that stuff,” he said.
Instead, he teamed up with illustrator Ignacio Noé to create “Momo” on their own terms.
“This was just like, I wrote it, and I said, ‘I like the story,’ and then I got this beautiful, wonderful artist, Ignacio Noé, to do the illustrations and so nobody edited anything I wrote or that he drew,” Cusack said.
“So it’s really a piece of work that was just done by two people. It was just me and Ignacio’s story, and that doesn’t happen today.”
“There’s no bull, and there’s no committee. There’s no computer up in Seattle that’s poll testing it,” he added.
“Momo” — Cusack’s first graphic novel — is set to be released on Sept. 29.
The story follows two fugitives in 1972 who set out to recover an ancient artifact for TV icon Jackie Gleason.
The actor spent decades as one of Hollywood’s most recognizable leading men, starring in “Grosse Pointe Blank,” “High Fidelity” and “Con Air,” but his acting career has become increasingly selective in recent years.
He appeared in the 2025 films “Fog of War” and the Mandarin-language film “Detective Chinatown 1900” after starring in the Chinese espionage thriller “Decoded” in 2024.
Before that, his only screen credits since 2020 were the action thriller “Pursuit” and Amazon’s dystopian series “Utopia.”
Cusack has been outspoken about the state of Hollywood for years.
“My friend Joe Roth ran Disney [until 2000],” he told the Guardian in 2014. “He made things like ‘The Rock’ and ‘Con Air’ to make shareholders happy, but then he also gave six or seven slots to people he liked.
“I got to make ‘High Fidelity’ and ‘Grosse Pointe Blank.’ Spike Lee got to make ‘Summer of Sam.’ Wes Anderson got to make ‘Rushmore.’ I had that memory of film and that’s gone.”
“Now it’s six for them — with a committee cutting the film who weren’t part of making it – and maybe one for you,” he added.
Cusack isn’t the only member of his family to step away from the spotlight.
His older sister, actress Joan Cusack, 63, made her first red-carpet appearance since 2015 in May when she attended the London premiere of “Toy Story 5,” ending an 11-year absence from public events.
“I feel so honored to have worked in this industry for a long time,” the actress told Variety in June. “But it’s also great to live your life and raise your kids and be in Chicago and be a normal person.”
Entertainment
Kelly Clarkson shares rare love life update

Kelly Clarkson defended her right to remain single during a recent Las Vegas residency show.
“People are like, ‘Oh, why are you single?’ And I’m like, ‘First of all, there are a lot of people out here making single look real good,’” the talk show host told the crowd Friday at her “Studio Sessions” show at Caesars Palace, per social media footage.
“And if you didn’t really understand what I meant by that, it’s like you see relationships and you’re like, ‘I am so glad I’m going home alone.’”
She jokingly added, “You know what’s not happening in my house? That s–t.”
“If you are in a relationship, the hardest part I feel like is just keeping that fire alive and still dating,” the “American Idol” winner continued. “And, like, still making it feel magical and not monotonous.”
The “Miss Independent” hitmaker, 44, has kept her dating life under wraps since she finalized her divorce from late ex-husband Brandon Blackstock in 2022.
Blackstock — who shared daughter River Rose, 12, and son Remy, 10, with the pop star — died in August 2025 at the age of 48 after battling melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer.
Though she returned to “The Kelly Clarkson Show” that September, Page Six reported in January that the Grammy winning songstress would be ending the daytime talk show.
The mom of two confirmed the impending end of her series in February, writing in a social media statement that there had “been so many amazing moments and shows over these seven seasons.”
She added that she’s “forever grateful and honored to have worked alongside the greatest band and crew you could hope for” and acknowledged “all the talent and inspiring people who have shared their time and lives with us.”
Clarkson wrote that it was “not an easy decision” to step away, and noted that she felt it’s “necessary and right for this next chapter of our lives” to prioritize her children.
The show will wrap up and air its final episodes this fall and her summer Las Vegas residency runs through Aug. 15.
Clarkson also released her new single, “I’d Be Lyin’,” on July 17.
Prior to Blackstock’s passing, Clarkson — who filed for divorced from the producer in 2020 and saw the legal matter settled in 2022 — addressed why she isn’t dating.
“Dating can be very difficult, which is why I don’t,” she told her Las Vegas audience in July 2025.
Clarkson said at the time that since dating “is hard anyway,” it can be a “dumpster fire” when you “add a spotlight.”
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