Blake Lively awarded $400,000 of $8m she claimed for legal fees in Baldoni battle

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman awarded Blake Lively over $400,000 in legal fees and costs on Wednesday, following her 18-month legal battle and settlement with fellow actor Justin Baldoni over the film It Ends With Us. The award represents just 5 percent of the $8 million Lively sought.

The financial ruling in Manhattan federal court draws a line under a protracted high-profile dispute that stemmed from the production of the 2024 domestic abuse drama It Ends With Us, which Baldoni directed and in which both actors starred. While the judge determined that Lively was entitled to recover expenses, the final payout fell dramatically short of her multi-million-dollar demand.

Judge Liman Cuts Lively’s $8 Million Request Down to Size

Lively had initially requested $8,035,040.88, which included $7,495,526.87 in legal fees and $539,514.01 in litigation costs and expenses.

In his written decision, the judge noted that while the case was extremely well-litigated and billing rates sometimes exceeding $2,000 per hour were not unreasonable given the complexity of the litigation, the number of hours for which Lively seeks reimbursement is unreasonable. Liman added that the documentation provided was incomplete, noting that Lively submitted the declaration of a purported attorney fee expert who reviewed the records rather than the billing invoices themselves.

The judge limited the recovery primarily to defending against Baldoni’s defamation claim, excluding other costs such as media relations expenses and travel. Baldoni’s legal team had criticized Lively’s request as an over-inclusive blunderbuss approach that demanded reimbursement for far too many lawyers and hours.

A Landmark Test for California’s Retaliatory Lawsuit Protections

The fee award was anchored in California Civil Code Section 47.1, a 2023 law designed to protect individuals who report sexual harassment and discrimination from retaliatory defamation lawsuits brought by their alleged perpetrators. Liman let Lively seek expenses under the statute after Baldoni countersued her and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for defamation and extortion in January 2025.

Blake Lively awarded $400,000 of $8m she claimed for legal fees in Baldoni battle — Photo: Page Six

Both sides claimed victory following the decision. Lively’s attorneys, Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, issued a joint statement celebrating the outcome as a precedent-setting moment for accusers in the entertainment industry.

Actor Blake Lively leaves the courthouse after — Photo: Reuters

“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. As we have said from day one, Blake Lively’s case was never about money – it was about accountability.”

Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, lawyers for Blake Lively, via Reuters

Conversely, Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, emphasized that the court rejected the vast majority of Lively’s financial demands, leaving her with a tiny fraction of her requested payout.

“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.”

Bryan Freedman, lawyer for Baldoni, via Yahoo

Settlement Agreements and Unresolved Public Silence

Wednesday’s ruling follows an 18-month legal battle that began after Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department in December 2024. She accused Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios of orchestrating an online smear campaign in retaliation for her complaints about sexual harassment during the filming of It Ends With Us. Baldoni vigorously denied the allegations, countering that Lively invented the claims to seize creative control of the project.

Blake Lively will receive $400,000 in legal fees from Justin Baldoni in their bitter court battle

Judge Liman ultimately tossed out Baldoni’s countersuit as well as Lively’s sexual harassment claims on the grounds that she worked on the film as an independent contractor rather than an employee. In May, the parties reached a settlement just weeks before a trial was scheduled to begin in New York, agreeing that no money changed hands in that resolution and leaving only the attorneys’ fees for the court to decide.

While Baldoni and his wife, Emily, addressed the public regarding the emotional toll of the ordeal in a video posted to Instagram, Lively has yet to speak publicly about the legal dispute.