Key Points
- A court awarded Blake Lively $407,451 of the roughly $8 million she sought in legal fees and costs
- The judge said she overstated the hours and staff needed to defend against Justin Baldoni's defamation claim
- Both sides called the ruling a victory, after the defamation suit was dismissed in 2025 and the case later settled
The Latest:
A US court has awarded actress Blake Lively $407,451 of the roughly $8 million she sought to cover legal fees and costs fighting a defamation lawsuit brought by her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni, the BBC reports.
Details:
- The ruling: Judge Lewis Liman said Lively overstated the number of people and hours of work necessary to defend the defamation claim specifically.
- Lively’s side: Her lawyers called the award “historic” as the first-ever fee award under a 2023 California law protecting harassment accusers from retaliatory defamation suits.
- Baldoni’s side: Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman called the ruling “a significant victory,” saying the courtroom isn’t a place to exploit the law.
- Background: The judge dismissed the defamation lawsuit in 2025, and the two sides later reached a settlement ending the dispute.
What to Watch:
The case is among the first to test California’s newer harassment-protection law, and could serve as a reference point in similar disputes going forward.
