Judge Orders Justin Baldoni to Cover Blake Lively’s Legal Fees After Dismissal of $400 Million Defamation Suit

A federal judge has issued a final ruling addressing attorney’s fees, one of the last unresolved issues in the legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

In a decision issued Friday, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman ruled that Baldoni must pay certain legal fees incurred by Lively after his $400 million defamation lawsuit against her was dismissed. The judge rejected Lively’s request for additional financial penalties, including triple damages and punitive damages, bringing a significant chapter of the dispute to a close.

The conflict began after Lively accused Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios of fostering what she described as a toxic and sexually charged workplace environment during the production of It Ends With Us. The actress alleged discrimination and misconduct on set, claims that Baldoni strongly denied.

In response, Baldoni filed a $400 million countersuit alleging defamation and related claims. That lawsuit was ultimately dismissed in June 2025, significantly shifting the legal landscape and setting the stage for the subsequent fight over attorneys’ fees and damages.

The ruling follows the parties’ settlement agreement reached in early May, just weeks before the case was expected to head to trial. Under the terms of that settlement, neither side received monetary compensation. While the broader litigation was resolved, Lively’s legal team preserved the right to pursue attorney’s fees and damages related specifically to Baldoni’s failed defamation claims.

Their argument centered on California’s Weaponized Defamation Lawsuits Act, a relatively recent law designed to protect individuals who report alleged misconduct from retaliatory defamation lawsuits. The statute allows prevailing defendants in certain cases to recover attorney’s fees and related costs when courts determine that a defamation action was improperly used in response to protected allegations or complaints.

Lively’s attorneys argued that she qualified for relief under the law after Baldoni’s lawsuit was dismissed. In court filings submitted before the settlement was finalized, they described the actress as the “prevailing defendant” and maintained that she was entitled not only to reimbursement of legal expenses but also to additional compensatory and punitive damages.

The court ultimately disagreed with that broader interpretation.

In his ruling, Judge Liman stated that the California statute was never intended to override established federal procedural rules governing civil litigation. While the law provides a mechanism for recovering certain fees and costs, he concluded that it does not automatically open the door to expanded financial penalties.

“The Act 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 wrote. He further explained that the statute creates only a limited exception allowing specific relief, not a sweeping entitlement to additional damages.

As a result, the court approved Lively’s request for attorney’s fees connected to the dismissed claim but denied her efforts to obtain triple damages or punitive damages. The judge also found there was insufficient evidence to support allegations that Baldoni or his production company, Wayfarer Studios, acted with malice when pursuing the litigation.

While Lively’s original complaint included harassment allegations against Baldoni, several claims from both sides were narrowed or dismissed through pretrial rulings as the litigation progressed. By the time settlement discussions intensified earlier this year, the case looked substantially different from the sweeping legal battle initially presented by both parties.

Following Friday’s ruling, Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman emphasized that the court rejected Lively’s request for broader damages. “Ms. 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,” Freedman said, adding that Baldoni continued to deny the allegations against him.

Representatives for Lively did not immediately comment on the ruling.