Blake Lively Requests Deadline Extension Amid Never-Ending Justin Baldoni Legal Drama

The Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni legal saga following It Ends With Us has found yet another chapter.

Lively is asking for more time in her ongoing fight over legal fees tied to Baldoni’s dismissed $400 million defamation lawsuit, according to a letter obtained by Page Six. The request comes after the former co-stars settled Lively’s 2024 lawsuit in May, with neither side receiving money in the settlement. But the court still has to determine how much Baldoni must pay Lively for fees and costs connected to the defamation case, which was thrown out last November.

In a letter filed Tuesday, Lively said she would have difficulty meeting the June 22 deadline to submit her initial brief on the “appropriate measure of fees.”

The filing cited “a number of conflicting personal and professional obligations, including international travel,” and noted that one of her lead attorneys, Mr. Gottlieb, was out of the country.

Lively requested “an additional seven days” to file the brief.

“Often, the mere existence of deadlines is what forces lawyers and parties to pay attention to the case and to try their best to get it resolved,” said Randall M. Kessler, founding partner of Kessler & Solomiany, who is not involved in the case. “If there were no deadlines, some litigants would let cases drag on forever and ever.”

Still, he said there are “many reasons” to seek an extension.

“Sometimes it is as simple as the lawyers had other matters or trials that delayed their ability to meet the deadline,” he added.

“The fair takeaway is that this is standard legal practice and reading it as a PR maneuver may be assigning intent that simply is not there,” said Amore Philip, founder of Apples and Oranges Public Relations.

“What makes this case uniquely vulnerable to PR misinterpretation is that both legal teams have been unusually public about their strategies,” she added.

“Every filing is now a content drop whether the lawyers intend it that way or not,” Philip continued. “The more you use the court of public opinion, the more the public feels entitled to an opinion on your court proceedings.”

“Blake Lively is on a suicide mission by refusing to let her case go,” said forensic psychiatrist Dr. Carole Lieberman, pointing to Lively’s “ruined” reputation.

“She seems stuck — unable to free herself from pursuing more litigation,” she added.

“It may seem like this is about trying to win more money, but unconsciously, it’s about something more important to her,” Lieberman said. She suggested that what really may have happened “is that she fell in love — or at least l---,” and became “a woman scorned.”