Judge orders Justin Baldoni and studio to pay Blake Lively $363,000 in legal fees
A New York federal judge limited the attorneys' fees awarded to Blake Lively in her dispute with Justin Baldoni and his production company to just over $363,000, rejecting her request for $7.5 million.
A U.S. District Judge in New York ruled on Wednesday that actor Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios must pay actress Blake Lively $363,000 in attorneys' fees and $44,000 in costs, far less than the $7.5 million she had sought. The judge described the larger demand as unreasonable and based the award on a California law that protects sexual-harassment claimants from retaliation, but limited its application to Lively’s defamation claim.
"Judge Liman clearly considered the ‘outrageous and unreasonable’ $8 million plus demand and, in rejecting it, awarded only 5% of the amount sought in legal fees and costs," said Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman in a statement, calling the decision a victory for his client.
The ruling follows the dismissal of Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and others, as well as a separate defamation claim against The New York Times. The legal dispute, which began in December 2024 after Lively filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment on the set of "It Ends With Us," has seen multiple motions and partial dismissals, leaving only retaliation claims against Baldoni’s public-relations team pending.