Judge grants Blake Lively $400,000 of $8M in legal fees she sought in film fight with Justin Baldoni
- A federal judge in Manhattan ruled Wednesday that Blake Lively will receive $400,000 of the $8 million in legal costs she sought from Justin Baldoni following their settlement over the 2024 film 'It Ends With Us.'
- Judge Lewis J. Liman denied Lively the majority of her requested legal fees, citing limits of a California law designed to protect sexual harassment survivors from retaliatory lawsuits.
- The judge ruled that Lively is entitled to $363,245 in attorneys' fees and $44,206 in costs, as the California law could only apply to fees for defending against defamation claims rather than all claims Baldoni made against her.
- Lively had alleged sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, and other misconduct during filming, while Baldoni denied the allegations and claimed Lively fabricated complaints to gain creative control.
- Lively and Baldoni reached a settlement in early May, two weeks before a scheduled trial, with both parties issuing a joint statement affirming commitment to workplaces free of improprieties.
A federal judge in Manhattan ruled Wednesday that Blake Lively will receive approximately $400,000 of the $8 million in legal costs she sought from actor and director Justin Baldoni following their settlement over the 2024 film "It Ends With Us." Judge Lewis J. Liman denied Lively the majority of her requested legal fees, citing the limits of a California law designed to protect sexual harassment survivors from retaliatory lawsuits. The judge determined that the protective law could only apply to fees for defending against defamation claims rather than all claims Baldoni made against her, resulting in an award of $363,245 in attorneys' fees and $44,206 in costs.
Lively had alleged that during filming she experienced sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy. She claimed Baldoni made inappropriate comments about her appearance, violated physical boundaries during a love scene, and pressured her for nudity in a birth scene against her wishes. Baldoni denied these allegations, asserting that Lively fabricated the complaints as part of an effort to seize creative control of the movie and that his actions were within normal creative filmmaking processes.
Following Lively's December 2024 lawsuit, Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios filed a countersuit against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, alleging civil extortion, defamation, invasion of privacy, and economic interference. However, the judge dismissed the countersuit in June 2025 and later rejected Lively's sexual harassment claims on the grounds that she was an independent contractor rather than an employee. In early May, two weeks before a scheduled trial, both parties reached a settlement and issued a joint statement affirming their commitment to workplaces free of improprieties.
法官判决布莱克·莱弗利获得800万美元诉讼费中的40万美元
曼哈顿联邦法官周三裁定，布莱克·莱弗利将获得她向演员兼导演贾斯汀·巴尔多尼索赔的800万美元诉讼费中的约40万美元，此前双方就2024年电影《以我们结束》的纠纷达成和解。法官刘易斯·J·利曼驳回了莱弗利要求的大部分诉讼费，理由是加州法律对性骚扰幸存者反诉保护的限制。法官认定该保护法仅适用于为抗辩诽谤指控而支付的费用，而非巴尔多尼对她提出的所有指控，最终判决莱弗利获得363,245美元的律师费和44,206美元的诉讼费。
莱弗利曾指控在拍摄期间遭受性骚扰、报复、违反合同、故意造成情感伤害和侵犯隐私。她声称巴尔多尼对她的外表做出不当评论，在爱情戏中侵犯身体界限，并违背她的意愿强行要求她在分娩场景中裸露。巴尔多尼否认这些指控，声称莱弗利捏造投诉是为了夺取电影的创意控制权，并辩称他的行为属于正常的电影创意过程范围内。
在莱弗利于2024年12月提起诉讼后，巴尔多尼及其制片公司Wayfarer Studios对莱弗利和她的丈夫瑞恩·雷诺兹提起反诉，指控民事敲诈、诽谤、侵犯隐私和经济干扰。但法官在2025年6月驳回了反诉，后来以莱弗利在拍摄时是独立承包商而非员工为由驳回了她的性骚扰指控。在定于开庭前两周的5月初，双方达成和解，并发表联合声明，重申致力于建设没有不当行为的工作场所。