A federal judge on Wednesday awarded Blake Lively about $400,000 in attorneys’ fees in her years-long dispute with “It Ends With Us” co-star Justin Baldoni — well short of the $8 million she had sought. Judge Lewis Liman handed her $363,000 in attorneys’ fees and another $44,000 in court costs, ruling she was entitled only to the “reasonable” fees tied to defending against Baldoni’s defamation suit.
Lively and Baldoni settled their 18-month legal war in May, avoiding a federal trial that had been scheduled for later that month. The only loose end at the time was Lively’s motion for fees for having to defend against Baldoni’s failed defamation lawsuit.
Liman found that while the attorneys’ billing rates were “not unreasonable,” the hours billed were too many. “The number of hours for which Lively seeks reimbursement is unreasonable,” he wrote. The roughly $400,000 award works out to about double what The New York Times was awarded for defending itself from Baldoni’s defamation case.
“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.”
That was Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, who noted that Lively received only about 5% of what she asked for.
Accountability Over Money
Lively’s lawyers, Esra Hudson and Michael Gottlieb, framed the outcome differently. “As we have said from day one, Blake Lively’s case was never about money – it was about accountability. She lifted the curtain for other victims, and set the precedent for others to come forward and expose similar conduct.”
The saga traces back to December 2024, when Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department alleging Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios had waged an online smear campaign against her in retaliation for raising sexual harassment concerns on the set of the film. Baldoni fired back with a defamation suit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and The Times — a suit that was ultimately dismissed. Lively sought fees under a 2023 California law designed to discourage frivolous defamation suits against accusers.
Why It Matters
This ruling brings a formal close to one of Hollywood’s most closely watched celebrity legal battles — even if neither side is fully satisfied. For Lively’s camp, it cements that her complaint was vindicated in court, not just on social media. For Baldoni’s, the slashed award reads as a rebuke of an overreaching fee request. Either way, the case has reset expectations for how courts handle sprawling celebrity defamation fights, and its legacy will outlast whatever check finally changes hands.
