Full Breakdown
Legal Fee Dispute Between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively
7/14/2026, 5:50:42 AM
Core Event: Baldoni Challenges $8 Million Fee Request
On July 13, 2026, Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios filed a motion in federal court asking Judge Lewis Liman to deny or substantially reduce Blake Lively’s request for more than $8 million in attorneys’ fees and $539,514.01 in litigation costs. The filing argues the amount is “wildly overinflated” and seeks to cap any award at a six-figure sum.
Background & Context
Lively sued Baldoni in December 2024 over the promotion of the film *It Ends With Us*. Baldoni countersued Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds for $400 million; the countersuit was dismissed in June 2025. After the dismissal, Lively filed a fee application on June 29, 2026, seeking $7,495,526.87 in fees and $539,514.01 in costs under California Civil Code § 47.1, claiming they covered the “successful defense of the Wayfarer Action.” The parties settled the broader litigation in May 2026, leaving only the fee issue for the court.
Official Statements & Responses
Baldoni’s attorneys contend the fee request is “anything but a typical fee motion,” pointing to the New York Times’ $181,622.70 fee request in a comparable defamation dismissal as a benchmark. They highlight 7,070.20 billable hours logged by 82 timekeepers—approximately twenty times the norm in similar cases. Lively’s lawyers, Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, argue the fees reflect the case’s high profile, extensive discovery (over 7,000 documents from Lively alone), and the need to deter “lawsuits as a weapon of intimidation.”
Criticism & Opposition
The filing criticizes Lively’s billing for “multiple attorneys at the same hearings,” excessive conferencing charges, and “extremely excessive research and online investigation.” It also notes that the fee request includes costs for researching Lively’s own liability for perjury and a denied Rule 11 motion, which Baldoni’s team says fall outside the statutory definition of “successful defense.”
Verbatim Quotes
- “Lively's fee request is so over-inclusive that it sweeps in fees for researching her own liability for perjury arising from her California CRD claim and her Rule 11 motion for which the Court has already denied fees!” — Attorney Bryan Freedman (court filing)
- “Lively fails to meet her burden to present credible evidence showing that the fees and costs she seeks to recover are reasonable and, accordingly, her fee motion should be denied in its entirety,” — Baldoni’s filing
- “The most cursory review of Lively’s submission shows multiple lawyers at the same hearings, numerous charges for lawyers conferencing, conferring, or strategizing with one another, and to put it mildly, extremely excessive research and online investigation,” — Baldoni’s filing
- “Thanks to this landmark decision, those considering using a lawsuit as a weapon of intimidation have been put on notice that there are consequences for doing so ,” — Michael Gottlieb, attorney for Lively
