NEW YORK — Blake Lively has been awarded $407,451.75 in attorneys’ fees and costs following her legal battle with actor and director Justin Baldoni over the 2024 film It Ends With Us, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
The award is substantially below the approximately $8 million Lively had requested from the court.
U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman awarded Lively $363,245.40 in attorneys’ fees and $44,206.35 in costs, according to the court’s ruling.
The decision addresses the remaining issue of legal expenses after Lively and Baldoni reached a settlement in May, bringing the broader litigation to a close before the case was scheduled to proceed to trial.
Judge rejects most of Lively’s $8 million request
Lively’s legal team had sought roughly $8 million for work connected to defending her against claims brought by Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios.
Judge Liman concluded that Lively was entitled to recover certain fees under a California law designed to protect people who report sexual misconduct from retaliatory defamation litigation.
However, the judge rejected most of the amount requested.
The ruling said the number of hours for which Lively sought reimbursement was unreasonable. The court also excluded categories of work that it determined were outside the legal services for which the applicable law permitted recovery, including certain media-relations expenses.
The result was an award representing only about 5% of the amount Lively had originally sought.
The dispute began during the making of It Ends With Us
The legal conflict between Lively and Baldoni emerged publicly in late 2024, following their work together on It Ends With Us.
Lively filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment and retaliation connected to the production of the film. Baldoni denied the allegations.
Baldoni and Wayfarer subsequently filed their own lawsuit against Lively and others, accusing them of defamation and other wrongdoing. Those claims were ultimately dismissed.
The competing allegations produced an unusually contentious legal and public-relations battle involving two prominent Hollywood figures.
Settlement ended the main litigation
The parties reached a settlement in May 2026, shortly before the scheduled federal trial.
The settlement resolved the principal litigation between Lively and Baldoni, but the question of Lively’s entitlement to legal fees remained before Judge Liman.
A June ruling had already determined that Lively qualified to recover certain legal fees under California Civil Code Section 47.1, a provision intended to protect people who report sexual misconduct from retaliatory defamation claims.
Wednesday’s decision determined how much she could actually recover.
Both sides claim aspects of the ruling as victories
Lively’s attorneys characterized the award as significant because it confirms her entitlement to fees under the California statute.
Baldoni’s legal team, meanwhile, had challenged the size of Lively’s request and argued that the amount sought was excessive.
The judge’s decision ultimately rejected the vast majority of Lively’s requested fees while still awarding her more than $400,000.
That leaves both sides with different interpretations of the final ruling.
What the ruling does – and does not – mean
The $407,451.75 award is not a new damages judgment against Baldoni for the underlying allegations.
It is a reimbursement of qualifying legal fees and costs associated with the litigation covered by the court’s ruling.
The decision also does not amount to a finding that every allegation made by either side was proven.
The broader case had already been settled, and Wednesday’s ruling dealt with the remaining fee dispute.
A legal battle that lasted nearly two years
The dispute surrounding It Ends With Us became one of Hollywood’s most closely watched legal controversies.
What began with allegations concerning conduct during the production developed into competing lawsuits, extensive discovery, disputes over communications and public relations, and a highly publicized courtroom battle.
The litigation also generated substantial public discussion about workplace conduct, sexual-harassment allegations, defamation claims and the role of public-relations campaigns in celebrity legal disputes.
With the underlying lawsuits settled and the federal court now having ruled on Lively’s remaining fee request, the latest decision may represent the final major judicial action in the dispute.
What happens next
Lively and Baldoni agreed to settle the underlying litigation before trial.
The latest ruling establishes the amount Lively can recover in legal fees and costs under the court’s interpretation of the applicable California law.
Reuters reported that the parties had agreed not to appeal the fee decision, although the significance of the latest ruling could continue to be debated publicly.
For now, the central legal battle over It Ends With Us is effectively over.
The final financial award to Lively from this fee proceeding is $407,451.75, compared with the approximately $8 million she had sought.
Key Facts
- Blake Lively award: $407,451.75
- Attorneys’ fees: $363,245.40
- Costs: $44,206.35
- Amount originally sought: Approximately $8 million
- Judge: U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman
- Film: It Ends With Us
- Settlement: May 2026
- Latest ruling: August 26, 2026
- Status: Fee dispute resolved; underlying litigation settled
Reporting Credit: Reuters, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times and People, with Journos News independently synthesizing and presenting the verified court ruling and related legal developments.
