Blake Lively Awarded $407,000 After Seeking $8 Million From Justin Baldoni

Blake Lively has been awarded $407,451.75 in attorneys’ fees and legal costs following her legal battle with It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios. The amount is far below the $8,035,040.88 she originally asked the court to recover.

U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman awarded Lively $363,245.40 in attorneys’ fees and $44,206.35 in costs. The judge agreed that she was entitled to recover certain expenses related to defending against Baldoni’s defamation claims, but rejected most of her broader request.

The decision follows an intense legal dispute that began after Lively accused Baldoni and others involved with It Ends With Us of sexual harassment and retaliation. Baldoni denied the allegations and later filed a major defamation lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and others. His claims against Lively were ultimately dismissed.

Lively’s lawyers had requested more than $7.49 million in legal fees plus about $539,514 in additional costs. Baldoni’s legal team argued that the request was excessive, including the number of hours billed by Lively’s attorneys.

Judge Liman found that Lively’s lawyers’ hourly rates were reasonable but determined that the number of hours claimed was excessive. He also excluded certain expenses, including work related to media relations, because they were not directly connected to defending the defamation claims.

The broader legal battle was settled in May 2026, shortly before the case was expected to proceed to trial. The settlement resolved the main dispute, while the question of Lively’s legal fees remained for the judge to decide.

The latest ruling is therefore not an $8 million payout. Lively requested roughly $8 million but received about $407,000, which is only around 5% of the amount she sought. Both sides have presented the ruling as favorable to their respective positions, making the decision another notable chapter in the highly publicized Hollywood legal battle.