Judge Trims Lively's Legal Fee Request in Baldoni Case

A federal judge has partially granted Blake Lively's request for legal fees in her dispute with Justin Baldoni, awarding her roughly $400,000 — a fraction of the $8 million she had sought.

Judge Lewis Liman ruled on Wednesday that Lively is entitled to about $363,000 in attorneys' fees plus $44,000 in court costs. The decision comes after Lively and Baldoni settled their 18-month legal battle in May, just before a scheduled federal trial.

Lively had requested $7.5 million in legal fees and an additional $540,000 in costs. In his ruling, Liman said the billing rates were "not unreasonable" given the case's complexity, but found that "the number of hours for which Lively seeks reimbursement is unreasonable."

The dispute stems from Lively's December 2024 complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, in which she alleged that Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios orchestrated a smear campaign against her after she raised concerns about sexual harassment on the set of "It Ends With Us."

Baldoni responded with a defamation lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, claiming they fabricated allegations to gain creative control of the film. He also sued The New York Times over its coverage, but that case was dismissed because Lively's claims were protected by litigation privilege and the paper's reporting was deemed a fair account of the proceedings.

Lively sought the fees under a 2023 California law aimed at deterring frivolous defamation suits against people who publicly report sexual assault allegations. The amount awarded is roughly double what the Times received in its own fee claim against Baldoni.