Blake Lively has been awarded about $400,000 in legal fees following the settlement of her legal battle with It Ends with Us co-star Justin Baldoni, states The Hollywood Reporter.
The amount is significantly lower than the more than $8 million Lively had sought to recover for legal expenses incurred while defending herself against a defamation lawsuit filed by Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios.
In a ruling on Wednesday, US District Judge Lewis J. Liman said Lively was entitled only to the “reasonable fees and costs necessary to defend against the defamation claim”.
The court awarded her $363,000 in attorneys’ fees and $44,000 in court costs.
Lively had requested more than $8 million, including $7.5 million in attorneys’ fees and around $540,000 in court costs.
She sought the reimbursement under a California law intended to protect survivors of sexual harassment and discrimination from retaliatory lawsuits.
While Liman found that the rates charged by Lively’s lawyers were reasonable given the case’s “complex legal issues”, he ruled that the number of hours claimed for reimbursement was excessive.
The judge also rejected Lively’s request for costs related to media relations.
The ruling stated that such work was not integral to defending the defamation claim and therefore was not compensable.
The decision marks Lively’s final opportunity for monetary compensation from the legal dispute, unless she chooses to pursue another lawsuit.
She and Baldoni settled their 18-month legal battle in May, shortly before a federal trial was scheduled to begin.
The dispute began in December 2024, when Lively filed a complaint accusing Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios of orchestrating an online smear campaign against her after she raised allegations of sexual harassment on the set of It Ends with Us.
Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios subsequently filed a defamation lawsuit against Lively, alleging that she and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, had made false claims in an attempt to gain creative control over the film.
Baldoni also sued The New York Times over its reporting on Lively’s complaint.
Both lawsuits were dismissed, along with several claims in Lively’s case, before the parties ultimately reached a settlement.
