NEWSBlake Lively Wins Just $407,000 in Justin Baldoni Legal Fee Fight After Asking for $8 Million
Blake Lively secured a partial victory in her fee dispute with Justin Baldoni.
Aug. 29 2026, Published 7:42 a.m. ET
Blake Lively got a win in her legal battle with Justin Baldoni, but not the $8 million she wanted.
Judge Lewis J. Liman awarded the Gossip Girl alum $363,245.40 in attorneys’ fees and $44,206.35 in costs, far below the more than $8 million she had sought from Baldoni and the Wayfarer parties. Liman called the request an “outrageously unreasonable demand.”
Still, the ruling gives Lively a partial victory tied to Baldoni’s unsuccessful defamation lawsuit, which followed her dismissed California sexual harassment complaint.
Judge Lewis J. Liman awarded Blake Lively $407,000 in fees and costs.
A Win, But a Small One
The judge rejected Blake Lively’s initial $8 million request, calling it unreasonable.
“Blake Lively won the headline, but not necessarily the desired financial award,” said Legacy Arts Law founder Tisha Morris, who is not involved in the case.
According to Morris, the meager award “indicates that the fee request was beyond the work the judge considered compensable and reasonable.”
“It is considered a ‘win’ for Blake and therefore a boost for her in the headlines, which is likely more valuable than the attorney fees she didn’t get awarded,” she added.
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Experts See a Message
Legal experts called the smaller award a headline win.
“An award of attorney’s fees is vindication,” said Randall M. Kessler, founding partner of Kessler & Solomiany, who is not involved. He noted that it can show the court believed the other side’s conduct justified paying litigation costs — at least partially.
Business and entertainment attorney Seth C. Berenzweig, managing partner at Berenzweig Leonard and not involved in the case, said the ruling fits the judge’s earlier view of the dispute as a “feud between PR firms.”
“While reps for both sides are fighting for headline space touting this ruling as a win — both ended up paying a very heavy price for using the courts as a retaliatory tool,” he said. “The judge here sent a clear message, that celebrities using the courts as a battleground for public opinion should not be rewarded.”
The Broader Case
The ruling followed the fallout from Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s broader legal battle.
Lively’s original lawsuit alleged sexual harassment on the set of It Ends With Us, and Baldoni filed a countersuit for defamation. Lively’s lawsuit was dismissed, and Baldoni’s defamation suit was unsuccessful.
Lively then sued over an alleged smear campaign carried out by Baldoni and his team, settling in May with no money changing hands and no admission of wrongdoing from Baldoni.
“This award, mostly a loss for her, was based on a specific California law created to protect sexual abuse survivors from retaliatory legal actions. Without that unique statute in play, her whole claims for fees would have been thrown out,” Berenzweig explained. “It seems the only winners here were the lawyers.”
Blake Lively secured a partial legal victory in her fee dispute with Justin Baldoni.
