Blake Lively awarded $400,000 in legal fees over Justin Baldoni lawsuit
Actress Blake Lively has been awarded more than $400,000 in attorney fees after her 18-month legal battle with her former co-star Justin Baldoni.
Actress Blake Lively has been awarded more than $400,000 in attorney fees after her 18-month legal battle with her former co-star Justin Baldoni.
Listen to this article
On Wednesday, judge Lewis Liman awarded Lively $363,245.40 in attorneys’ fees and $44,206.35 in costs.
This figure is far lower than the $8million the Gossip Girl star - who is married to Ryan Reynolds - had sought.
A sexual harassment lawsuit brought against Baldoni was thrown out in April because of jurisdictional issues. They reached a settlement the following month.
Lively accused Baldoni of harassment during the filming of the 2024 romance film, It Ends With Us.
She sued Baldoni, his production company, Wayfarer Studios, and others, seeking damages for alleged harassment, defamation, invasion of privacy, and violations of federal and state civil rights laws.
In a ruling on Wednesday, the judge found Lively was entitled to only “reasonable” fees.
He found her lawyers’ billing rates were “not unreasonable” in a case of this complexity, but “the number of hours for which Lively seeks reimbursement is unreasonable.”
Liman added that her documentation was incomplete: “Lively has submitted the declaration of a purported attorney fee expert who has reviewed the billing records […] Lively has not submitted the invoices themselves.”
Read More: Justin Baldoni loses $400 Million lawsuit against Blake Lively as he misses court deadline
Read More: Taylor Swift to give evidence in Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni legal battle
Lively alleged that the defendants created a sexually charged atmosphere during the film's production and then schemed to silence her from speaking out.
Later, Baldoni sued Lively and her Hollywood star husband Reynolds for defamation, but Judge Liman also tossed this case in June.
The dispute became public in December 2024 when Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department.
An article related to her allegations was also published in the New York Times titled: "'We Can Bury Anyone': Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine."
Lively has made high-profile appearances at the Met Gala and at the World Cup final after the settlement but has yet to speak publicly about the legal battle.
