Blake Lively files to receive $8m in legal fees from Justin Baldoni and his studio
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- Blake Lively filed for $8,035,040 in legal fees and costs from Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, covering her costs from January to June 2025 fighting Baldoni's countersuit
- The fee request breaks down to $7,495,526.87 in attorneys' fees and $539,514.01 in costs, per a 30 June letter from Lively's legal team obtained by the Guardian
- A federal judge ruled in June that Lively was "entitled to fees and costs" — a ruling flowing from Baldoni's January 2025 $400M countersuit for civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privacy being dismissed in June 2025, with the underlying case settled in May 2026
- Lively's attorneys Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson accused Baldoni and Wayfarer of "scorched-earth litigation tactics designed to drain Lively's resources" in a 15-page memorandum
- The memorandum characterized Baldoni's countersuit as aimed "to retaliate against Lively by falsely branding her a liar, intimidating witnesses and the media, and discouraging others from speaking out"
- Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios have until 13 July to agree to pay the $8M or formally challenge Lively's claim
Why it matters: If Baldoni agrees to pay by 13 July, Lively recovers the full $8,035,040 she is seeking; if he challenges, the litigation over the countersuit's costs continues even after the May 2026 settlement. Lively's attorneys publicly framed the fee award as a "landmark" precedent warning against using lawsuits "as a weapon of intimidation" — framing that has not yet been endorsed by the court itself.
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