Blake Lively Awarded $400,000 in Attorneys Fees in Justin Baldoni Case

Key Points:

• A judge awarded Blake Lively approximately $400,000 in attorneys’ fees and court costs in her legal dispute with co-star Justin Baldoni, significantly less than the $8 million she had sought.
• The ruling came after Lively and Baldoni settled their 18-month legal battle in May, which involved Baldoni’s failed defamation suit against Lively.
• Judge Lewis Liman found the attorneys’ billing rates reasonable but deemed the number of hours claimed by Lively as excessive, awarding her $363,000 in fees and $44,000 in costs.
• The dispute originated from Lively’s sexual harassment complaint against Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, which Baldoni countered with a defamation lawsuit accusing Lively and her husband of fabricating allegations to gain creative control.
• Lively pursued compensation under a 2023 California law designed to protect accusers from frivolous defamation suits, but claims for treble and punitive damages were previously ruled inapplicable under federal law.