The legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni has concluded through settlement, but not before producing a significant court ruling with real consequences for employers.
U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman has ordered Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and associated plaintiffs to pay Lively $363,245 in attorneys’ fees and $44,206 in costs, totalling approximately $407,000.
The dispute stems from the production of *It Ends With Us*, during which Lively alleged she experienced sexual harassment and retaliation at the hands of Baldoni and his associates.
Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios filed a seven-count lawsuit against Lively, which included a defamation claim based on her public allegations about what she said occurred on set.
The court dismissed that defamation claim and subsequently found that Lively was entitled to recover her reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs under California Civil Code section 47.1.
Section 47.1, which took effect in 2024, protects communications made without malice concerning sexual assault, harassment, discrimination, or retaliation personally experienced by the speaker, provided the speaker had a reasonable basis to make the statement.
If the speaker succeeds in getting a defamation claim dismissed under the statute, the law mandates that the opposing party must pay the speaker’s reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.
Attorneys Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, who represented Lively, said the award marked the first fee award issued under the law since it came into effect.
Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman sought to characterise the outcome as a partial win, noting the judge had rejected a far larger demand from Lively’s legal team. “Judge Liman clearly considered the ‘outrageous and unreasonable’ $8 million plus demand and, in rejecting it, awarded only 5 percent of the amount sought in legal fees and costs,” Freedman said.
Judge Liman himself acknowledged in his ruling that while “counsel’s rates were not unreasonable… the number of hours for which Lively seeks reimbursement is unreasonable,” explaining the significant reduction from the amount originally sought.
The underlying case, *Lively v. Wayfarer Studios LLC*, had been heading toward a May 2026 trial after a federal court permitted Lively’s California Fair Employment and Housing Act retaliation claim to proceed.
Both sides ultimately reached a settlement before trial, with Variety confirming reports from TMZ and Page Six that Lively received no financial compensation as part of the deal.
For employers and businesses, the case carries a pointed lesson about the legal and financial risks of responding to workplace harassment allegations with a defamation lawsuit, particularly in California where legislative protections for speakers have been significantly strengthened.