Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have reached a settlement, yet tensions persist as Lively seeks over $8 million in legal fees from her “It Ends With Us” co-star and director. Lively’s legal team filed a court document requesting $7,495,526.87 for attorney’s fees and $539,514.01 for other expenses. This amount reflects the costs incurred in defending against a $400-million defamation lawsuit filed by Baldoni in January 2025.
The court filing alleges that the lawsuit was not aimed at winning in court but rather at retaliating against Lively by falsely labeling her a liar, intimidating witnesses and the media, and deterring others from speaking out. The legal tactics employed by the Wayfarer Parties were described as aggressive strategies to deplete Lively’s resources.
The conflict between Lively and Baldoni arose during their collaboration on the 2024 romantic drama film, an adaptation of a 2016 novel by Colleen Hoover. Lively, 38, initiated legal action against Baldoni, 42, and Wayfarer Studios in December 2024, accusing them of collaborating with publicists to tarnish her reputation following her private allegations of sexual harassment on the set of “It Ends With Us.” Baldoni refuted these claims.
In a subsequent turn of events, Baldoni countersued Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist. However, Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed the countersuit in June 2025. Lively’s sexual harassment claim was also dismissed in April. The legal dispute between Lively and Baldoni was resolved before a trial was scheduled to commence, with Lively not receiving any financial compensation in the settlement. Liman ruled in June that Lively is entitled to recover certain legal expenses under California law, which safeguards harassment survivors from retaliatory lawsuits.
Lively’s legal team, comprising Esra Hudson of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, and Michael Gottlieb of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, provided Lively with discounted rates for their services. Gottlieb stated that he charged Lively an average hourly rate of $2,187, with a 10-15% discount from the standard rates. He billed 224 hours for his work on defending against Baldoni’s countersuit, totaling $457,000 in fees.
Blake Lively is known for her roles in “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” (2005) and “Gossip Girl” (2007-2012), as well as films like “The Town” and “The Shallows.” Justin Baldoni starred in “Jane the Virgin,” directed “Five Feet Apart” (2019), and authored “Man Enough,” a book challenging traditional masculinity.