A judge partially granted Blake Lively’s request for Justin Baldoni to cover her attorney’s fees after the It Ends With Us costars settled their legal battle.
According to court documents filed Wednesday, August 26, and obtained by Us, Lively’s request was granted in part and denied in part. Lively, 39, was awarded $363.245.40 in attorneys’ fees and $44,206.25 in additional costs. (TMZ was first to report the news.)
“Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties lost their meritless retaliatory $400 million lawsuit, which two different courts held was designed to stifle public criticism and silence Blake Lively and others,” Lively’s attorneys Esra Hudson and Michael Gottlieb told Us in a statement. “This first-ever award of fees and costs under this California law is historic, and demonstrates that there are real consequences of bringing retaliatory lawsuits. As we have said from day one, Blake Lively’s case was never about money, it was about accountability.”
They added, “As the recent news in the Rebel Wilson [versus] Amanda Ghost case demonstrated, Blake Lively’s lawsuit exposed an industry of secret online smear campaigns that largely target women, and unsurprisingly involve the same players. She lifted the curtain for other victims, and set the precedent for others to come forward and expose similar conduct. This result demonstrates that the legal system is not as easily manipulated as social media, and still functions as a force for accountability.”
Lively and Baldoni, 42, settled their dispute out of court in May, in which the Gossip Girl alum requested $8 million in damages and fees.
Lively named Baldoni, her costar and director on It Ends With Us, in a 2023 lawsuit, accusing him of sexual harassment, fostering a hostile work environment and attempting to destroy her reputation with a social media smear campaign. Baldoni vehemently denied the accusations and filed a defamation suit against Lively, which was ultimately dismissed by a judge.
After Baldoni and Lively reached a settlement out of court, the actress’ lawyers issued a statement.
“This settlement is a resounding victory for Blake Lively,” her attorneys Gottlieb and Hudson told Us in May. “By agreeing to this settlement, and waiving their right to appeal, Justin Baldoni and every individual defendant now face personal liability for abusing the legal system to silence and intimidate Ms. Lively. And by admitting that Ms. Lively’s concerns ‘deserved to be heard,’ the defendants have ended once and for all the fiction that Ms. Lively ‘fabricated’ claims of sexual harassment and retaliation.”
The lawyers continued, “From day one, Blake Lively’s mission was clear: expose and hold accountable those who weaponize smear campaigns and retaliatory lawsuits to intimidate and silence survivors. That mission continues.”
Baldoni, for his part, broke his silence nearly two months later.
“We are healing, and if you’ve ever been through something traumatic, you know that healing isn’t linear,” the actor said in a July video shared via Instagram. “It looks different every day, and we have had to rethink for ourselves what is real and what matters and it’s this, it’s our family, it’s our friends, it’s our community [who] have been there for us, it’s our faith.”
He added at the time, “I think we’re closer and more devoted and steadfast in our faith than we’ve ever been. Also, and this has been on both of our hearts, there were so many of you who, when we didn’t have a voice, were our voice. … So many of you had discernment and you used your intuition and you trusted that, and you have given your time to fight for us. Thank you does not feel like enough, but we’re here in large part because of so many of you and all of our friends and family.”
