Blake Lively Demands Justin Baldoni Pay Over $8 Million In Legal Fees Following Legal Battle

Blake Lively is officially requesting that Justin Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, pay more than $8 million to cover the legal costs she racked up while defending herself against his defamation lawsuit. The actress’s legal team filed the request on June 30, 2026. This news comes after a judge ruled she is allowed to seek reimbursement for certain legal expenses. The total legal fees and costs Lively is asking for amount to $8,035,040.88.

The Breakdown of the $8 Million Legal Fee Request

The large sum of money Lively is asking for is split into two main parts. The first part covers the money paid to her lawyers, totaling $7,495,526.87. The second part is for other legal expenses and costs that came up during the case, totaling $539,514.01.

Her legal team explained that the high amount is because of the intense nature of the case. They mentioned that their work involved dealing with a huge amount of “significant press attention, with thousands of indexed and syndicated media articles” and going through an extensive discovery process that included over 7,000 documents. The lawyers also detailed their billing rates, noting that one of Lively’s lead attorneys charged an average of $2,187 per hour.

Why Lively is Asking for the Money After the Case Settlement

The request for legal fees comes after the legal fight between Lively and Baldoni officially ended. The two sides reached a settlement on May 4, 2026. Lively did not receive any money as part of that settlement. However, the settlement allowed her to continue her request to get back the money she spent on legal defense.

Lively’s request is based on a recent ruling by Judge Lewis J. Liman. On June 12, the judge said that Lively could seek attorneys’ fees and costs under California Civil Code Section 47.1. This law is designed to protect people who report sexual harassment or discrimination from being sued in retaliation. The judge decided that Lively qualified for this protection and could ask for the fees she spent defending against Baldoni’s countersuit.

The Arguments Behind the Legal Fee Request

In their court filing, Lively’s lawyers did not hold back in their criticism of Baldoni’s legal strategy. They called his countersuit a “gross abuse of the legal system”. The lawyers argued that the lawsuit was “not meant to win in court — its aim was to retaliate against Lively by falsely branding her a liar, intimidating witnesses and the media, and discouraging others from speaking out”.

They further accused Baldoni and his team of using “scorched-earth litigation tactics designed to drain Lively’s resources”. Lively’s attorneys, Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, issued a statement. They explained that this legal battle sets a new standard for accountability. “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,” they said.

Baldoni’s Side and Next Steps in Court

Justin Baldoni’s legal team has already responded to the ruling. His lawyer, Bryan Freedman, had previously downplayed the judge’s decision to allow Lively to seek fees. He argued that the court had thrown out most of Lively’s other claims. He stated that any award would be “limited to a single claim as part of a case that lasted only a matter of months”.

The legal process for deciding the final amount is not over yet. Judge Liman has ordered Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios to file their response to Lively’s request by July 13, 2026. After that, the judge will review both sides’ arguments and make a final decision on whether to grant the full amount, lower it, or deny parts of it.

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