Justin Baldoni ordered to pay Blake Lively $400K in legal fees after she sought $8 million
Justin Baldoni ordered to pay Blake Lively $400K in legal fees after she sought $8 million
Raechal ShewfeltThu, August 27, 2026 at 12:22 AM UTC
0
Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively in August 2024Credit: James Devaney/GC Images; Kristina Bumphrey/WWD via GettyKey Points -
In a new development, Blake Lively has been awarded $407,000 in legal fees stemming from her legal case against Justin Baldoni.
The actors costarred in the 2024 movie It Ends With Us, which ended in a legal battle.
Lively had requested $8 million in compensation for legal fees that she has paid in the case.
Blake Lively has been awarded $407,000 in legal costs in her ongoing battle with Justin Baldoni, her director and costar in the 2024 film It Ends With Us.
The actress had sought $8 million in her case against him, in which she hired a legal team to defend herself and husband Ryan Reynolds against claims in Baldoni’s countersuit. Baldoni termed that amount “excessive.”
Initially, the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants star filed a complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department in December 2024, alleging that he had sexually harassed her on the set and coordinated an online smear campaign to damage her reputation. He subsequently countersued Lively and Reynolds for $400 million, accusing the couple of offenses including defamation, breach of contract, and civil extortion.
Several legal moves later, the parties settled in May, weeks before they had been scheduled to go to trial.
Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.
Lively had not received any financial compensation at the time, which paved the way for her team to continue its pursuit of the money spent to defend her.
Advertisement
Court documents obtained by Entertainment Weekly show that Judge Lewis J. Liman of the Federal District Court in Manhattan, in his ruling, rejected some of Lively’s requests for the award to cover, for instance, media relations. He focused on repaying her money spent legally defending her against Baldoni’s claim that she defamed him.
Lively’s attorneys Esra Hudson and Michael Gottlieb, told EW: “Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties lost their meritless retaliatory $400 million lawsuit, which two different courts held was designed to stifle public criticism and silence Blake Lively and others. This first-ever award of fees and costs under this California law is historic, and demonstrates that there are real consequences of bringing retaliatory lawsuits.”
The statement continued, “As we have said from day one, Blake Lively’s case was never about money – it was about accountability. As the recent news in the Rebel Wilson/Amanda Ghost case demonstrated, Blake Lively’s lawsuit exposed an industry of secret online smear campaigns that largely target women, and unsurprisingly involve the same players. She lifted the curtain for other victims, and set the precedent for others to come forward and expose similar conduct. This result demonstrates that the legal system is not as easily manipulated as social media, and still functions as a force for accountability.”
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively in February 2025Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman provided his own take.
“Section 47.1 is not a perfect law, but it is an important one designed to protect real survivors, who deserve to see this law tested and perfected in the court of law,” Freedman wrote. “Notwithstanding the fact that the law was applied in ways it was never intended for, my clients intentionally left Section 47.1 to be ruled on without any appellate rights to appeal as part of the settlement agreement, to prevent either party from overturning the law.”
He concluded, “Today’s ruling speaks for itself. Judge Liman clearly considered the ‘outrageous and unreasonable’ $8 million plus demand and, in rejecting it, awarded only five percent of the amount sought in legal fees and costs. 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.”
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
