Blake Lively awarded $400K after seeking $8M in Justin Baldoni legal battle
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: A judge has awarded Blake Lively about $400,000 in attorneys’ fees in her legal dispute with ‘It Ends With Us’ co-star Justin Baldoni, far below the $8 million she had sought.
The ruling came after the two sides settled their 18-month legal battle in May, avoiding a federal trial that had been scheduled for later that month.
Judge Lewis Liman awarded Lively $363,000 in attorneys’ fees and another $44,000 in court costs.
Blake Lively awarded $400K in legal fees
Judge Liman ruled that Lively was entitled only to “reasonable” fees related to defending against Baldoni’s failed defamation suit.
Although he found that her attorneys’ billing rates were “not unreasonable” given the high stakes and complexity of the case, Liman determined that “the number of hours for which Lively seeks reimbursement is unreasonable.”
She had requested $7.5 million in attorneys’ fees and another $540,000 in court costs. Instead, she received just double the amount awarded to The New York Times for defending itself against Baldoni’s defamation case.
Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, noted that Lively received only 5% of what she requested. “The ruling is a significant victory for my clients and sends a clear message that, no matter how powerful you may be, the courtroom is not a place to take advantage of the law for your own personal gain,” he said.
Lively’s attorneys, Esra Hudson and Michael Gottlieb, offered a different view, arguing that the result showed “that there are real consequences of bringing retaliatory lawsuits.” They said Lively’s case was never about money but about accountability.
They further added that she “lifted the curtain for other victims” and set a precedent for others to come forward and expose similar conduct.
They also argued that the result demonstrated that the legal system was not as easily manipulated as social media and remained a force for accountability.
Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni legal battle continues
Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department in December 2024, alleging that Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios launched an online smear campaign against her after she raised complaints about harassment on the set of ‘It Ends With Us.’
Baldoni responded with a defamation suit, accusing Lively and Ryan Reynolds of concocting fake allegations to hijack creative control of the film. He also sued The New York Times over a story largely based on the civil rights complaint.
That suit was dismissed because Lively’s claims were protected by litigation privilege and the paper’s coverage was a fair report of the proceedings.
Although Lively appears to have received no financial payout in her settlement with Baldoni’s Wayfarer parties, Wayfarer attorneys argued in a May 8 filing that she “dismissed her three remaining claims without the Wayfarer Defendants paying a cent,” despite originally seeking $300 million in damages.
A source close to Lively said the case was never about money and that she settled only after documents exposing alleged bad actors behind smear campaigns became public. Meanwhile, Reynolds has expressed pride in his wife.
He previously said, “I have never in my life been more proud of my wife,” while discussing their family’s experience amid the legal battle.
