Blake Lively awarded $400,000 of $8m legal fees claim

Actress Blake Lively has been awarded $400,000 of the $8 million she sought to cover her legal fees and costs in a defamation case initiated by her former co-star, Justin Baldoni. The initial lawsuit involved Lively suing Baldoni for sexual harassment and retaliation, to which he countersued for defamation.

A judge dismissed Baldoni's defamation complaint in 2025. Following this, Lively argued she was entitled to $7.5 million for her lawyers' fees and an additional $540,000 for other expenses. However, the judge ruled that she should receive significantly less.

The judge determined that Lively's request was excessive, citing that she had claimed money for more individuals and a longer duration than was necessary to defend against the defamation claim. The ruling indicated that costs intertwined with the broader legal battle should not have been included in this specific fee request.

Furthermore, the judge criticized Lively's approach to calculating her legal expenses, describing it as a "blunderbuss approach" regarding the number of lawyer hours claimed. The final awarded amount of approximately $407,451 reflects this reduction from her initial substantial claim.

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should not have claimed money for other "intertwined" costs to do with the wider legal battle, and took a "blunderbuss approach" to calculating how many hours of lawyers' time she could claim for