The award is a small fraction of the more than $8 million Lively sought after Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios’ defamation claims were dismissed.
A federal judge has awarded Blake Lively about $407,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs connected to her defense against defamation claims brought by Justin Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, in the long-running dispute over the 2024 film It Ends With Us.
U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman awarded $363,245 in legal fees and $44,206 in costs, far below the more than $8 million Lively had requested. The ruling was issued Wednesday in Manhattan.
Liman concluded that a California law intended to protect people who report sexual misconduct from retaliatory litigation allowed Lively to recover reasonable expenses tied to defending the defamation claims, but not the broader array of work for which her lawyers sought reimbursement. The judge also found the requested number of billable hours unreasonable.
The fee ruling follows the dismissal of Baldoni and Wayfarer’s lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and others. Baldoni had denied Lively’s allegations of harassment and retaliation, and said her complaints were part of an effort to take creative control of the film.
Lively and Baldoni settled their remaining claims in May, avoiding a planned trial. The agreement left open Lively’s request for fees related to the dismissed defamation claims. Wednesday’s order addresses that fee dispute; it does not resolve the competing factual allegations that framed the broader case.
