Blake Lively Awarded $407,000 in Legal Fees After Seeking $8 Million

Blake Lively has been awarded $407,451.75 in attorneys’ fees and legal costs following her legal dispute with Justin Baldoni and parties connected to Wayfarer Studios. The amount is substantially less than the $8,035,040.88 that Lively had requested from the court.

U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman awarded Lively $363,245.40 in attorneys’ fees and another $44,206.35 in costs. The ruling concerns expenses associated with defending against defamation claims brought against her during the legal dispute.

Lively had asked the court to reimburse approximately $7.5 million in attorneys’ fees and about $539,514 in additional litigation costs. The judge determined that she was entitled to recover certain reasonable expenses, but rejected much of the broader request.

The dispute dates back to the controversy surrounding the 2024 film It Ends With Us, which starred Lively and Baldoni. Lively previously made allegations of s---ual harassment and retaliation against Baldoni and others associated with the production. Baldoni denied the allegations and later pursued defamation claims against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and others.

Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit was dismissed in 2025. The wider legal dispute continued for months before Lively and Baldoni reached a settlement in May 2026, shortly before the case was expected to proceed toward trial. The settlement resolved the broader litigation, while Lively’s request for attorneys’ fees and costs remained before Judge Liman.

In deciding the amount of reimbursement, Judge Liman found that Lively’s lawyers’ hourly rates were not unreasonable but concluded that the number of hours submitted for reimbursement was excessive. He also declined to compensate certain expenses that were not directly connected to defending the defamation claims.

Among the excluded expenses were portions of work involving media relations and press coverage. The judge determined that such activities were not integral to the legal defense for which Lively was seeking reimbursement.

The final award of $407,451.75 represents roughly 5% of the $8,035,040.88 that Lively originally requested. It is important to note that this amount represents legal fees and costs awarded by the court, rather than an $8 million damages judgment.

The ruling marks another significant development in the highly publicized legal dispute surrounding It Ends With Us. While Lively was awarded some reimbursement for her legal expenses, the court ultimately approved only a small portion of the amount requested.