Baldoni Asks Federal Judge to Reject or Reduce Fee Request
Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios have asked a federal judge to reject or significantly reduce Blake Lively’s demand for more than $8 million in legal fees and litigation expenses.
The latest filing was submitted on July 13 and opened another courtroom dispute between the former It Ends With Us co-stars. Although their broader legal battle was settled in May 2026, the amount Baldoni and his company may be required to pay toward Lively’s legal costs remains unresolved.
Lively is seeking $7,495,526.87 in attorneys’ fees and an additional $539,514.01 in litigation costs. Her total request is approximately $8.04 million.
The requested payment relates to the legal work performed while defending Lively against Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit, which included defamation and other claims. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in June 2025.
A judge later ruled that Lively was entitled to recover reasonable legal fees under a California law designed to protect people who report alleged sexual harassment from retaliatory lawsuits. However, that ruling did not automatically approve the full amount requested by her lawyers.
The latest disagreement is therefore focused on what should be considered a reasonable payment.
Legal Team Questions 7,070 Hours Billed by 82 Timekeepers
Baldoni’s attorneys described Lively’s submission as far more extensive than a normal legal fee request. They argued that the records showed excessive staffing, repeated work and unusually high research costs.
According to the filing, Lively’s legal team recorded more than 7,070 billable hours involving 82 timekeepers. These reportedly included lawyers, legal assistants and other professionals who worked on different parts of the case.
Baldoni’s lawyers claimed that several attorneys attended the same hearings and billed for internal conferences, discussions and strategy meetings. They also questioned the amount charged for research and online investigations.
The filing argued that multiple lawyers were sometimes assigned to work that could have been completed by fewer people. Baldoni’s legal team said such billing practices increased the total cost without proving that every hour was necessary.
His attorneys also challenged the hourly rates submitted by Lively’s lawyers. They argued that the legal team had not provided enough reliable evidence to show that the rates and total costs were reasonable for the work performed.
Lively’s side has maintained that the case required extensive legal work because of its size, complexity and intense public attention. Her attorneys have also described Baldoni’s lawsuit as an aggressive legal response to her allegations and said defending against it required substantial resources.
New York Times Fee Comparison Used to Challenge Demand
Baldoni’s attorneys compared Lively’s request with the legal fees sought by The New York Times after the newspaper defeated a related defamation claim.
According to the filing, the newspaper requested $181,622.70 after securing the dismissal of the claim against it. Baldoni’s team argued that the much smaller request demonstrated how unusually large Lively’s demand was.
However, the legal work performed for different defendants may not have been identical. Lively’s lawyers were responding to claims directed specifically against her, while the newspaper’s defence involved issues connected to its reporting and publishing activities.
The judge will have to examine the billing records, hourly rates, staffing decisions and complexity of the legal work before deciding whether the comparison is appropriate.
Baldoni’s attorneys argued that Lively had failed to meet her legal responsibility to provide credible evidence supporting the requested amount. They asked the court to deny the motion completely or reduce it substantially.
The filing does not dispute that the judge previously found Lively eligible to recover reasonable fees. Instead, it challenges the size of the bill and whether all the listed expenses should be paid by Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios.
Fee Dispute Continues After Broader Case Settlement
The conflict began after Lively accused Baldoni and others connected to It Ends With Us of misconduct and retaliation. Baldoni denied the allegations and later filed his own lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, her publicist and other parties.
His lawsuit sought $400 million and included defamation, civil extortion and other claims. A federal judge dismissed the case, finding that several statements at issue were legally protected.
The wider litigation continued until the remaining claims were resolved through a confidential settlement in May 2026. The settlement prevented the case from proceeding to a full trial, but it did not end the disagreement over legal expenses.
Lively’s legal team later submitted its detailed fee request, arguing that she should be reimbursed for the cost of successfully defending herself against Baldoni’s dismissed claims.
Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios are now asking the court to carefully review every category of the proposed bill. They maintain that the number of lawyers, total hours and litigation expenses go far beyond what should reasonably be awarded.
The judge may approve the request in full, reduce the amount or reject certain charges. No final decision has yet been announced.
The ruling will determine how much Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios must ultimately pay, bringing one of the final unresolved financial questions in the long-running Hollywood legal dispute closer to a conclusion.
