Blake Lively Awarded Legal Fees in Ruling After Justin Baldoni Settlement
The New York Times • • general
Key Points:
- A federal judge granted Blake Lively a partial legal victory by awarding her attorneys' fees but denied her request for additional financial penalties following her settlement with Justin Baldoni’s production company.
- Lively had settled her retaliation claims related to the 2024 film "It Ends With Us" without financial compensation but retained the right to seek damages through other legal means.
- Her attorneys invoked a California law designed to prevent defamation suits from being used to intimidate harassment complainants, citing Baldoni’s unsuccessful defamation lawsuit against Lively.
- Judge Liman ruled that Lively’s complaints met the legal standard of being made “without malice,” justifying the award of attorneys' fees for defending against the defamation suit.
- Baldoni’s legal team contested the fee award, arguing Lively exaggerated interactions as harassment to control the film’s production, but the defamation suit was dismissed five months after filing.