- Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios must cover Blake Lively's legal costs in their long running court dispute.
- Blake Lively officially submitted a bill demanding $8,035,040.88 in legal fees.
- Blake Lively's legal team accused Wayfarer Studios and the other defendants of using very aggressive legal tactics to make the case more difficult and expensive for her.
The legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni has taken another major turn. Two weeks after a federal judge, Lewis J Liman, ruled that Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios must cover Lively's legal costs in their long running court dispute, the actress officially submitted a bill demanding $8,035,040.88 in legal fees.
Following the ruling, Lively's legal team welcomed the decision, saying it sends a strong message that legal action should not be used to pressure people. They also said the ruling will also help protect others who may face similar situations in the future.
According to the court filing, obtained by Deadline, Blake Lively “respectfully requests the Court award her reasonable attorneys' fees of $7,495,526.87 and costs in the amount of $539,514.01.”
Lively's legal team accused Wayfarer Studios and the other defendants of using very aggressive legal tactics to make the case more difficult and expensive for her.
They claimed the other side kept the lawsuit in the public through regular media coverage, slowed down the sharing of their own documents and repeatedly forced the actress to ask the court to step in and deal with the improper legal filings.
After the court documents were filed, Blake Lively's lawyers, Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, said, “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, 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.”
The legal battle began in December 2024, when Blake Lively sued her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni. She accused him of sexual harassment and claimed he was involved in a campaign to damage her reputation. Following the allegations, Baldoni denied everything and later filed a countersuit against Lively.