Blake Lively Seeking $8M in legal fees from actor and director Justin Baldoni after resolving their controversy over the intense production of their 2024 film “With Us.”The amount, disclosed in a court filing Tuesday by Lively’s attorneys, includes nearly $7.5 million in legal fees from two law firms representing her and about $500,000 in other costs.
Blake Lively’s lawyer asks Justin Baldoni to pay damages
One of Lively’s attorneys, Michael Gottlieb, wrote in a court statement that he charged her an average hourly rate of $2,187, a discount from his typical hourly rate of $2,795. He said he paid for 224 hours of her defense against Baldoni’s countersuit, totaling $457,000.Her attorneys wrote in the filing that Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios LLC, “engaged in scorched-earth litigation tactics designed to drain Lively’s resources.”“They could have ended this at any time (and offered to compensate Lively). If they refused to do so, they should be ordered to reimburse Lively for all of her costs, attorney fees, and costs they unjustly forced her to bear,” they wrote.
Judge is still approving the amount
In allowing Lively to recover legal fees, the judge cited a California law that protects survivors of sexual harassment and discrimination from retaliatory lawsuits designed to intimidate and silence victims.Liman said the law requires that if a defamation claim filed in a lawsuit is dismissed, the plaintiff must pay the defendant’s attorney fees and costs, even if the facts of the case have not been proven through evidence collection.Liman said an exception would be made if Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios could prove Lively’s accusations were motivated by malicious intent, but they did not provide any evidence of that.A judge still must approve the amount she seeks.
Judge rejects treble damages claim
In court documents, Lively’s attorneys said $4.5 million should be paid to Gottlieb’s Willkie Farr & Gallagher firm and about $3 million to Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP.The judge rejected Lively’s bid to triple the damages and pursue punitive damages under California law, saying the damages fell outside the scope of “federal procedural rules carefully crafted to protect the rights of the parties.”
Blake Lively and Justin Bald
Lively and Baldoni settled last month ahead of a trial in Manhattan federal court in which Lively claimed he orchestrated conduct that damaged her public reputation and credibility after she accused him of sexually harassing her while filming a movie.Baldoni, who directed the dark romantic drama and starred with Lively, denied her claims.Lively received no money in the settlement, but a judge later ruled that she was entitled to recover some of the legal fees Baldoni incurred after he filed a countersuit against her.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal dispute
Lively, 38, sued Baldoni, 42, and Wayfarer Studios in December 2024, accusing them of conspiring with publicists to preemptively destroy her reputation after she privately accused Baldoni of sexual harassment on the set of “With Us.”Weeks later, Baldoni sued Lively, accusing her and her husband, the “Deadpool” actor, of Ryan Reynolds – and their slanderous and blackmailing publicists.Baldoni has denied harassing her or orchestrating a smear campaign. He claims complaints about his behavior were fabricated by Lively in an effort to wrest creative control of the film.Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed Baldoni’s countersuit last year and then dismissed Lively’s sexual harassment claim, saying she could not sue because she was an independent contractor and not an employee on the film set.
About “The End of Us”
“How We End” is adapted from Colleen Hoover’s 2016 best-selling novel about a relationship that turns into domestic violence. It was released in August 2024 and exceeded box office expectations.
