Judge awards Blake Lively legal fees in ‘It Ends With Us’ feud with Justin Baldoni

MANHATTAN (CN) — Blake Lively has been awarded attorneys’ fees in her legal war with “It Ends With Us” co-star Justin Baldoni, marking the end of her massive federal lawsuit that was largely settled last month.

In a 47-page order issued Friday, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman found that Lively made sexual misconduct complaints against Baldoni “without malice,” justifying her request for legal fees.

But the judge stopped short of granting Lively the other damages she sought under a new California law — Civil Code Section 47.1 — designed to protect sexual harassment accusers from retaliatory defamation lawsuits.

Lively claimed Baldoni’s now-dismissed $400 million defamation suit, filed in response to Lively’s sexual misconduct claims against him, was precisely the kind of legal action that law sought to prevent.

While Liman said it was “understandable” why Lively would seek damages under that law, he ultimately found that she’d need to file a formal counterclaim or an independent lawsuit to collect that cash. The California law, the judge ruled, “does not sweep so broadly” as to grant her the damages she sought.

“It does not create an end run around the entire set of carefully crafted federal procedural rules designed to protect the rights of the parties,” Liman, a Donald Trump appointee, wrote. “It instead establishes a narrow exception to the usual litigation process for a specific and limited kind of relief. Compensatory and punitive damages do not fall within that exception.”

Lively could still seek damages by other means. In a statement to Courthouse News on Friday, her lawyers Esra Hudson and Michael Gottlieb called Liman’s ruling a victory for their client.

“The court is awarding Ms. Lively attorneys’ fees and costs and has explained that a prevailing defendant under Section 47.1 may seek damages using different procedural mechanisms,” the attorneys said. “The parties’ settlement agreement expressly preserves Ms. Lively’s rights to obtain those damages. Ms. Lively is gratified that her lawsuit shows how Section 47.1 and laws like it create a path for survivors to hold accountable those who weaponize online attacks and retaliatory lawsuits to intimidate and silence survivors.”

Baldoni’s team, too, claimed victory after Liman’s ruling on Friday. Attorney Bryan Freedman, who represented Baldoni, said in a statement that Lively “was only awarded limited attorney fees for a single claim as part of a case that lasted only a matter of months, nothing more.”

“We fought and won against a coordinated effort built on allegations of sexual harassment, retaliation, and a smear campaign that never happened. Ms. Lively demanded over 300 million in fees and damages, had 10 of her 13 claims dismissed, she then chose to settle and received nothing,” Freedman said. “Notwithstanding that all of her sexual harassment and defamation claims were thrown out by the court, Ms. Lively then pivoted to exploit a California law that was established to protect real victims in what proved to be a fruitless mission to obtain damages. Once again, she failed.”

It is not immediately clear how much Lively will be paid in legal fees.

The ruling tied off the final loose ends in Lively’s massive federal lawsuit in the Southern District of New York, in which she accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her on the set of “It Ends With Us,” released in 2024. Lively claimed Baldoni improvised several kisses when shooting the movie and made unwelcome comments about her appearance, like statements about her cleavage and calling her “sexy.”

She also accused Baldoni of announcing to other individuals on set that she had never seen pornography — an admission she made to him after he purportedly opened up about having a porn addiction in the past.

Baldoni vehemently denied the claims and attributed them to Lively looking to hijack the premiere of the film, which he directed and produced through his company Wayfarer Studios.

The searing legal battle between the two Hollywood A-listers was gearing up to go to trial last month, until a last-minute settlement was announced on May 4 that ground the proceedings to a screeching halt.

Lively got no financial compensation out of the settlement, but the agreement opened the door for her to push for legal fees and further damages through California’s Section 47.1, as she did.

Much of Lively’s initial lawsuit was gutted ahead of the settlement, with Liman tossing 10 of 13 causes of action she leveled against Baldoni, including sexual harassment, defamation and civil conspiracy.

She first went public with her claims against Baldoni in a 2024 interview with The New York Times. Following the story’s publication, she said Baldoni engaged in a relentless publicity smear campaign to discredit her accusations.

Meanwhile, “It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of the 2016 Colleen Hoover novel of the same name, was a box office success, grossing more than $350 million worldwide during its theatrical run.

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