NEW YORK — Blake Lively will be able to recoup some legal expenses from actor-director Justin Baldoni, though a judge declined to award punitive damages and other remedies she requested after resolving her legal dispute tied to their 2024 movie, It Ends With Us, according to a ruling issued Friday.
In the written decision, Judge Lewis J. Liman said Lively is entitled to seek attorney fees and related costs connected to her defense against a countersuit Baldoni filed after she sued him in December 2024.
Liman pointed to a California statute intended to shield survivors of sexual harassment and discrimination from retaliatory legal action aimed at discouraging or silencing those who come forward with claims of sexual misconduct or harassment.
The judge wrote that under the law, if a defamation claim filed in response to a lawsuit is thrown out, the party who brought that claim must cover the defendant’s legal fees and costs — even when the case has not yet advanced to the evidence-gathering stage.
He added that the exception would be if Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios LLC, could show that Lively acted with malice in bringing her lawsuit. But, Liman said, they offered scant evidence for that argument and none that demonstrated malice.
The ruling did not spell out how those legal fees should be calculated. Liman also turned down Lively’s bid to seek triple damages and punitive damages under California law, saying those requests did not fit within “carefully crafted federal procedural rules designed to protect the rights of the parties.”
Lively and Baldoni settled the bulk of their dispute last month just as a trial was about to start on Lively’s retaliation claims. She received no money from the deal but was permitted to pursue legal fees.
Lawyers on both sides did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation, along with his production company, in late 2024. She said the actor engineered an effort to damage her public reputation and credibility.
Baldoni, who directed the dark romantic drama and starred in it with Lively, denied harassing her or orchestrating a smear campaign. He claimed the complaints about his behavior were made up by Lively as part of an effort to seize creative control of the movie. He countersued, accusing Lively and her husband, “Deadpool” actor Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion.
Liman threw out Baldoni’s countersuit last year and then dismissed Lively’s sexual harassment claims weeks ago, saying she could not bring them because she was an independent contractor rather than an employee on the movie set.
“It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel about a relationship devolving into domestic violence, was released in August 2024 and exceeded box office expectations.
Lively appeared in the 2005 film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and the TV series “Gossip Girl” from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films including “The Town” and “The Shallows.”
Baldoni starred in the TV comedy “Jane the Virgin,” directed the 2019 film “Five Feet Apart” and wrote “Man Enough,” a book challenging traditional notions of masculinity.
