Blake Lively seeks $8M in legal fees from Justin Baldoni in It Ends With Us aftermath
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Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni may have agreed to settle their differences, but that hasn’t stopped the drama — Lively is now seeking just over $8 million in legal fees from him. It ends with us star and director.
In a court filing on Tuesday, Lively’s lawyers asked for $7,495,526.87 in attorney’s fees and $539,514.01 in other costs. The price, they say, is that Lively must defend against a $400 million US defamation lawsuit that Baldoni, the founder of the production company Wayfarer Studios, filed against her in January 2025.
“This egregious violation of the law was not intended to succeed in court – its purpose was to retaliate against Lively by falsely calling her a liar, intimidating witnesses and the media, and dissuading others from speaking out,” the filing continued.
“Wayfarer Parties used scorched earth litigation tactics designed to extract Lively’s resources.”
Lively and Baldoni have been on a high note since working on the 2024 romantic drama film, based on Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel. Baldoni directed and starred in the film, produced by his production company, Wayfarer Studios.
Lively, 38, sued Baldoni, 42, and Wayfarer Studios in December 2024, accusing them of conspiring with the media to destroy her reputation after she privately accused him of sexual harassment. It ends with us set up. Baldoni denied the allegations.
A few weeks later, Baldoni contradicted Lively, her husband – Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds – and the couple’s spokesperson.
The judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed the case in June 2025. In April, Liman dismissed Lively’s sexual assault claim. Lively and Baldoni agreed to end their legal battle last month – two weeks before a trial began over Lively’s allegations that Baldoni conspired with the media to destroy her reputation. Lively did not receive any money from the settlement, but Liman ruled in June that she was entitled to additional legal fees.
In allowing Lively to recover legal costs, the judge cited a California law designed to protect survivors of sexual harassment and discrimination from retaliatory lawsuits intended to intimidate and silence victims.
Liman said the law requires that the plaintiff must pay the defendant’s legal fees and costs if a defamation claim made in response to the lawsuit is dismissed, even if the facts of the case were not developed through the collection of evidence.
Liman said exceptions would be made if Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios could prove wrongdoing fueling Lively’s allegations, but there was no evidence of that.
CBC News has reached out to lawyers representing Lively and Baldoni for comment, but has not yet received a response.
Lawyers offered a Lively discount: to apply
The letter says Lively’s lawyers – Esra Hudson of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and Michael Gottlieb of Wilkie Farr & Gallagher – have given Lively a small break on legal fees.
“All Lively billings reflect discounts of 10 and 15 percent from Manatt’s and Wilkie’s standard rates, respectively,” the filing said.
Gottlieb wrote in the court declaration that he is charging her an hourly rate of $2,187 – a discount from her usual $2,795 an hour. He said he billed 224 hours to work on his defense in Baldoni’s case, including $457,000 in fees.
Lively appeared in the 2005 film Sister of the Traveling Pants and TV series Gossip Girl from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films incl The city again The Shallows.
Baldoni is a TV comedian Jane the Virgindirected the 2019 film Five Feet Apart and he wrote Man Enough, a book that challenges traditional ideas of masculinity.
