By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, Aug 26 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Wednesday awarded Blake Lively $407,000 to cover her legal fees and costs after successfully defending against fellow actor Justin Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit stemming from their movie “It Ends With Us.”
The payment authorized by U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan is only about 5% of the $8.04 million that Lively sought. She had received no money when she settled her own lawsuit in May against Baldoni’s production company Wayfarer Studios.
Liman said that while the case was “extremely well-litigated” and billing rates that sometimes exceeded $2,000 per hour were “not unreasonable” given the complexity and high stakes, Lively sought reimbursement for an unreasonable number of hours and didn’t sufficiently explain what much of the work was for.
The judge limited Lively’s recovery primarily to defending against the defamation claim, and excluded other costs including for media relations and defending against a motion for sanctions.
Baldoni, 42, sued Lively, 39, for defamation in January 2025, the month after she sued him and Wayfarer over alleged sexual harassment and retaliation in connection with “It Ends With Us,” where both starred and Baldoni directed.
That case settled after Liman dismissed Lively’s harassment claims and all claims against Baldoni, but said she could sue Wayfarer for retaliation.
The judge let Lively seek expenses under a 2023 California law designed to protect sexual harassment accusers from retaliatory defamation lawsuits by their alleged perpetrators.
Baldoni has denied Lively’s claims.
In a joint statement, Lively’s lawyers, Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, said: “This first-ever award of fees and costs under this California law is historic, and demonstrates that there are real consequences of bringing retaliatory lawsuits. As we have said from day one, Blake Lively’s case was never about money – it was about accountability.”
Bryan Freedman, a lawyer for Baldoni, said in a statement: “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.”
Both sides agreed in advance not to appeal Liman’s decision on legal fees.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, Editing by Franklin Paul)
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