Blake Lively Awarded $400,000 in Legal Fees From Justin Baldoni After Seeking $8 Million in ‘It Ends With Us’ Battle

The messy legal saga between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni has reached what looks like its final chapter and it didn’t end the way Lively’s team hoped, at least financially. A federal judge just ordered Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, to pay Lively roughly $407,000 in legal fees. She’d asked for more than $8 million.

The Numbers

U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman broke the award down to $363,245.40 in attorneys’ fees plus $44,206.35 in costs, about $407,452 total. That’s roughly 5% of what Lively’s lawyers had asked for, which was around $7.5 million in fees on top of another $540,000 in expenses. The judge didn’t say Lively wasn’t owed anything he agreed she was entitled to recoup some of what she spent fighting Baldoni’s defamation suit. He just thought her legal team’s ask was way out of proportion to what the case actually required.

Why the Judge Slashed the Request

Liman’s issue wasn’t really with the hourly rates Lively’s attorneys charged; he considered those reasonable given how high-profile and complicated the case was. The problem was the sheer number of hours billed. He also flagged that some of the billed work things like media relations and administrative tasks shouldn’t have been charged at attorney or paralegal rates in the first place. On top of that, some of the billing records were vague, incomplete, or redacted to the point that it wasn’t clear what work had actually been done.

Bottom line: Lively can recover costs tied specifically to defending herself against Baldoni’s defamation claim, but not the full scope of everything spent during the broader legal war.

A Quick Recap of How We Got Here

Lively and Baldoni co-starred in 2024’s It Ends With Us, with Baldoni also directing. Things fell apart when Lively accused him and others involved in the production of sexual harassment and retaliation. Baldoni pushed back hard, denying the allegations and eventually filing a sprawling defamation lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and several others. That lawsuit didn’t survive; his claims against Lively were dismissed. The fight dragged on for about a year and a half, turning what should’ve been a movie promotion cycle into one of the most talked-about legal dramas in Hollywood. The two sides eventually settled the larger case back in May 2026, right before it was set to go to trial. The only thing left hanging was who would pay for all those legal bills which is what this latest ruling settles.

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Why This Ruling Actually Matters

Beyond the dollar figure, both sides are spinning this differently. Lively’s attorneys are calling the award historic, framing it as a win for people who report misconduct and then get hit with retaliatory lawsuits. Baldoni’s side sees it differently to them, the steep cut from $8 million to $400,000 basically proves the original request was inflated. Either way, the case is a reminder that even when celebrities rack up massive legal bills, courts still expect proof that every dollar claimed was actually necessary and properly documented, not just handed over because a case was expensive and high-profile. With the underlying lawsuit already settled and the fee dispute now resolved, this ruling likely closes the book on the It Ends With Us legal saga.

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