Blake Lively is looking for $8 million from Justin Baldoni to pay legal fees and costs that flowed from fending off a defamation lawsuit he filed as part of the sprawling court battle over the filming of It Ends With Us.
The figure, disclosed in a bid for attorney fees on Tuesday, represents a portion of what Lively spent over the course of the litigation and her last chance at any monetary compensation unless she decides to file another lawsuit.
The fight spilled into court in 2024 after Lively publicized allegations of sexual harassment on the set of the film and a smear campaign to undermine her reputation. The case settled last month with no payout to the actress, though she preserved her right to recover damages and legal costs under a California law intended to shield sexual harassment victims from retaliatory defamation claims.
A federal judge earlier this month denied her bid for damages but found that she’s entitled to recover her lawyer fees. It’s believed to be among the first applications of the state law, a point Lively frames as a major victory.
“Thanks to this landmark decision, those considering using a lawsuit as a weapon of intimidation have been put on notice that there are consequences for doing so,” said a spokesperson for the actress in a statement. “The value of this ruling is in the precedent it creates, the accountability it imposes, and the protection it provides to those who may one day find themselves facing similar retaliation for speaking the truth.”
Lively was represented by Michael Gottlieb of Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Esra Hudson of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, premier lawyers in complex employment and first amendment issues. The ask for $8 million represents her bill from beating Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit across six months in early 2025.
During that time, Gottlieb billed $457,000 over 224 hours, according to a court document. His typical hourly rate was discounted 15 percent for an average rate of $2,187 over the course of the litigation. In total, his firm was paid roughly $4.5 million.
Hudson, also colead counsel for Lively, similarly agreed to a discount for Lively, whose bill from the firm totals an estimated $2.9 million.
In their bid for fees, the lawyers stressed they succeeded in “every conceivable measure” by securing dismissal of Baldoni’s lawsuit, which they called a “gross abuse of the legal system” meant to retaliate against Lively.
In less than two years of litigation, the court docket for the case reached nearly 1,500 entries, with extensive legal and public relations maneuvering by each side. Bryan Freedman, a lawyer for Baldoni, estimated that it cost Lively $30 million to $60 million in legal costs.
“He didn’t get the result that they hoped to get in this case,” Freedman said of Gottlieb. “When you bring a case and you hope to prevail on that case, if you have the evidence to show that you’re right, you go to trial, and so it was really easy for us to end up in a trial.”
The court will decide lawyer fees owed to Lively after Baldoni files a reply.
