Actress Blake Lively will receive approximately $407,451.75 in legal fees and costs from actor Justin Baldoni following their legal dispute, a New York judge ruled Wednesday. This award represents a small fraction of the $8 million Lively had initially sought to recoup for defending herself against Baldoni's $400 million defamation lawsuit.
Judge Lewis Liman determined that the number of hours Lively's legal team billed were unreasonable and noted discrepancies in the expenses claimed. The court awarded $363,245.40 in attorneys' fees and $44,206.35 in costs.
This ruling comes months after the same judge dismissed most claims in Lively's sexual harassment case against her "It Ends With Us" co-star. The pair eventually settled the case with no money exchanged. Baldoni's defamation countersuit against Lively was also dismissed by Judge Liman, though he permitted Lively to seek legal fees specifically related to defending that action.
Lively had originally demanded $7,495,526.87 in legal fees and $539,514.01 in costs accumulated over 10 months of fighting Baldoni's countersuit. Baldoni's lawyers had described the demands as "deeply flawed" and argued that some of the sums sought were "excessive" and "exorbitant."
In his ruling, Judge Liman acknowledged that both parties had engaged in a "fierce battle" and that the hourly rates charged by the attorneys were not unreasonable given the substantial financial and reputational risks involved. However, he stated that the total hours billed by Lively's team were excessive. The judge also pointed out that Lively did not submit direct invoices to the court but rather forms outlining payments. Further, the judge rejected Lively's demand for reimbursement of PR team costs, ruling that "media relations were not integral to defending the defamation claim."
Lively's legal team, Esra Hudson and Michael Gottlieb, stated that Baldoni "lost their meritless retaliatory $400 million lawsuit" and that the fee award is "historic" and demonstrates consequences for bringing retaliatory suits. They emphasized that Lively's case was about accountability and exposing "secret online smear campaigns that largely target women."
The legal battle began in December 2024 when Lively sued Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, for alleged sexual harassment and defamation on the set of "It Ends With Us." Baldoni responded the following month with his defamation lawsuit. In October 2025, Baldoni's case was dismissed, and in May, after most of Lively's claims were dismissed, she agreed to settle her case.
Court documents revealed that Lively's lawyers had charged high hourly rates, with one attorney billing $2,795 per hour, though a discounted rate of $2,187 was applied for Lively. Her legal team argued that Baldoni's side employed "scorched-earth litigation tactics designed to drain Lively's resources."
Baldoni's legal team countered that Lively's billing schedules were "extremely overinclusive and deeply flawed," including work by 82 individuals and extensive internal conferencing. They argued that Lively failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove that the requested fees and costs were reasonable and directly attributable to defending the defamation claim.