Blake Lively’s self-styled fire-breathing fury appears to be running out of steam.
The latest development in the ongoing legal battle between the actress and her It Ends With Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, saw the 37-year-old actress drop two of her most explosive claims—those relating to intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
For Lively’s attorneys, the decision is nothing more than routine. “We are doing what trial lawyers do: preparing our case for trial by streamlining and focusing it,” they said.
But for critics, the move is something entirely different: a humiliating climbdown for a woman who once likened herself to Daenerys Targaryen—Game of Thrones’ infamous Mother of Dragons.
Blake Lively is mocked online after dropping two of her claims against It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni
Image credits: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
“Her dragons turned out to be lizards,” one user wrote shortly after the news broke.
Lively’s claim of possessing “dragons” brought her no small amount of mockery months ago, when leaked texts revealed that she had compared herself to Daenerys Targaryen in a “cringeworthy” private message to Baldoni.
Image credits: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images
“And like her, I happen to have a few dragons. For better or worse, but usually for better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for,” she wrote. “So really we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. You will too, I can promise you.”
Image credits: Columbia Pictures
The reference confused fans familiar with the show. Daenerys—also known as Khalessi—may have begun Game of Thrones as a symbol of liberation, but she ended the series with incinerating a city full of innocents in the series’ controversial ending.
“This isn’t as flattering as she thinks it is,” a netizen said at the time. “Did she miss the part where Khaleesi becomes a psychopathic war criminal?”
“She’s drunk off her own power like the mad Khaleesi. Hopefully she only burns up her own career,” another replied.
Image credits: Columbia Pictures
Connecting the dots, fans came to believe Lively’s “dragons” were a reference to her friendships with influential stars such as Taylor Swift and Hugh Jackman. In the months following, rumors circulated that Swift was offended by the implications, and tried to distance herself from the situation.
Lively allegedly refused to provide evidence to back up her claims of being “emotionally damaged” by Baldoni
Image credits: Columbia Pictures
The dropped claims had previously been a central part of Lively’s December lawsuit, which alleged that Baldoni orchestrated a retaliatory smear campaign and subjected her to inappropriate behavior on set.
Baldoni was accused of s*xual harassment, fat-shaming, and taking advantage of her by making last-minute script changes intended to add or increase intimate scenes between them.
In the lawsuit, Lively said the emotional impact of Baldoni’s alleged behavior was “extreme,” affecting not only her, but her “family, including her husband and four children.”
However, when Baldoni’s legal team recently requested access to medical and therapy records to assess the emotional distress allegations, Lively opted to withdraw the claims instead.
In response, Baldoni’s attorney, Kevin Fritz, wrote a letter to Judge Lewis J. Liman, arguing that Lively was “refusing to disclose the information and documents needed to disprove that she suffered any emotional distress.”
Image credits: vancityreynolds
The letter added that, by dismissing the claims “without prejudice,” the actress appears to be reserving the right to refile them later, potentially after the discovery window closes. “It’s a legal bait and switch,” Fritz argued.
Baldoni’s countersuit alleges that Lively and Reynolds used their power and influence to “steal the film” from him
Lively’s draconic threat was made public as part of Baldoni’s 179-page countersuit, which accused Blake and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, of civil extortion, defamation, and hijacking the film’s production and promotional tour.
Baldoni claims the conflict began after he casually inquired about Lively’s weight through her trainer, due to concerns over lifting her in a scene and protecting his—at the time—injured back.
Image credits: Variety
What followed was a meeting at the couple’s penthouse, where Reynolds publicly berated Baldoni in front of key production staff.
The conflict escalated from there, with Blake attempting to take control of the production and destroy Baldoni’s reputation with “grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new and doctored information.”
Image credits: Late Night with Seth Meyers
“At the bottom, this is not a case about celebrities sniping at each other in the press,” the countersuit reads.
“This is a case about two of the most powerful stars in the world deploying their enormous power to steal an entire film right out of the hands of its director and production studio.”
On January 27, a judge set the date for Lively and Baldoni’s lawsuits for March 9, 2026.
The actors were also ordered to attend a pretrial conference on February 3, 2026, in which they are expected to address “pretrial publicity and attorney conduct.”
“She’s losing,” Some netizens believe Lively’s legal team is throwing in the towel
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