Blake Lively filed a New York court motion for more than $8 million in attorneys’ fees and costs after a judge dismissed Justin Baldoni’s defamation case and later ordered Baldoni and his company Wayfarer Studios to pay her legal expenses. The motion asks for
Blake Lively’s legal fight with Justin Baldoni may be ending on paper, but the accounting is still very much alive.
On Tuesday. June 30. the actress asked a New York court to award her reasonable attorneys’ fees of $7. 495. 526.87 and costs of $539. 514.01 in connection with Baldoni’s previously dismissed defamation case against her. Her request comes after the judge Lewis Liman dismissed Baldoni’s suit and granted Lively’s petition for attorneys’ costs and fees accrued during the proceedings.
Lively’s motion frames the dispute as more than a personal victory. Her legal team argued that Baldoni’s countersuit was a “gross abuse of the legal system” and “not meant to win in court. ” saying its purpose was to retaliate against her by falsely branding her a liar. intimidating witnesses and the media. and discouraging others from speaking out. They also accused Baldoni and Wayfarer of using a “scorched-earth” legal strategy designed to drain her resources.
Baldoni’s original lawsuit dates back to January 2025. when he filed a $400 million defamation case against Lively. her husband Ryan Reynolds. and The New York Times. The filing was set against a backdrop of earlier action: Lively had sued Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios the month prior over claims that Baldoni sexually harassed her on the set of “It Ends with Us” and helped orchestrate a smear campaign against her.
In the June 30 filing. Lively’s lawyers said their spending totaled $8. 035. 040.88 for her defense. describing it as “comprehensive and necessary to achieve the complete win that was secured.” They also told the court that Lively “has paid. and continues to pay” the bills tied to the case. and they signaled they may seek additional attorneys’ fees for continuing efforts to have them paid.
The motion includes granular detail on how the work was billed. In its breakdown of the $7,495,526.87 in fees, it states Lively’s legal team charged a rate of up to $2,187 per hour. It also points to the scale of the litigation, citing more than 7,000 documents produced.
Liman’s handling of the case sets the legal stage for what happens next. The motion also underscores the high-profile nature of the dispute. and Lively’s attorneys—Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson—said in a statement that the judge’s decision puts those considering using a lawsuit as “a weapon of intimidation” on notice that there are consequences. They said the ruling’s value is in the precedent it creates. the accountability it imposes. and the protection it provides to others who may face similar retaliation for speaking out.
Baldoni and Wayfarer are not out of the process yet. The judge has given them until July 13 to respond to Lively’s motion. A representative for Baldoni and Wayfarer has not commented.
The broader legal conflict has already shifted toward resolution. On May 4, Lively and Baldoni reached a settlement concluding the litigation entirely. That came weeks before they were set to go to trial over Lively’s December 2024 breach of contract and retaliation lawsuit. and shortly after Liman dismissed all but three of her 16 causes of action on April 2.
Settlement terms were made public on June 15. Under the agreement, Lively, Baldoni and Wayfarer agreed to end “all differences and disputes” and “irrevocably waive any and all appellate rights associated” with either party’s prior legal actions. The deal also included a release of a joint statement.
But not every piece of the case wrapped at the same time. Even after the settlement was announced, it left Lively’s previously filed motion for compensatory damages from Baldoni over the defamation suit to be finalized separately.
In that request. Lively relied on a California law designed to protect people who file harassment complaints from retaliatory defamation suits. She asked to be rewarded all compensatory damages provided under the statute. which she said includes attorneys’ costs and fees incurred to defend herself in the litigation. along with punitive damages and treble damages—a penalty that would triple the amount of any actual damages awarded.
On June 12, Liman ordered Baldoni and Wayfarer to pay Lively’s attorneys’ costs and fees, but did not grant her request for damages.
For now, the settlement may have ended the main dispute, yet the fee motion shows how the fight’s final pages are still being written—down to the rates, the documents, and the amount Lively says it cost to defend herself and win.
Blake Lively Justin Baldoni Wayfarer Studios legal fees attorneys' fees Lewis Liman defamation lawsuit It Ends with Us Ryan Reynolds New York court settlement