A federal judge in New York on Wednesday ordered Justin Baldoni and the studio behind It Ends With Us to pay Blake Lively nearly $400,000 in attorneys’ fees.
The decision comes after Lively requested a reimbursement of $7.5 million, which the judge said was “unreasonable.”
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman instead ordered Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, to pay Lively just over $363,000 in attorneys’ fees and $44,000 in costs.
Liman cited in his ruling a California state law designed to protect sexual harassment accusers from retaliation, but said that law only applies to Lively’s attorneys’ fees for defamation claims.
Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, responded to the ruling on Wednesday, saying the ruling “speaks for itself.”
“Judge Liman clearly considered the ‘outrageous and unreasonable’ $8 million plus demand and, in rejecting it, awarded only 5% of the amount sought in legal fees and costs,” Freedman said in a statement. “The ruling is a significant victory for my clients and sends a clear message that, no matter how powerful you may be, the courtroom is not a place to take advantage of the law for your own personal gain.”
ABC News has reached out to a representative for Lively.
The ruling comes over one year after Liman dismissed Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, the couple’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, as well as Baldoni’s defamation claim against The New York Times.
Lively and Baldoni, who starred together in It Ends With Us, have been embroiled in a legal battle since December 2024, when Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of the film, which he also directed.
Lively also accused Baldoni and his production company of attempting to orchestrate a smear campaign against her, allegations Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios have vehemently denied.
Baldoni’s lawsuit was ultimately dismissed by Liman in June 2025. The judge later gutted much of Lively’s case against Baldoni in April of this year, including claims she was subjected to sexual harassment on set, determining that she could continue to pursue her claims of retaliation against Baldoni’s public relations team.
Baldoni, via his Wayfarer production company, and Lively agreed to settle their ongoing dispute in May this year. Liman ruled at the time that Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios must pay Lively’s attorneys’ fees but denied Lively’s claim for punitive damages.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
