NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Blake Lively is seeking $8 million in legal costs from actor and director Justin Baldoni after resolving their dispute over the acrimonious production of their 2024 film 鈥淚t Ends With Us.”
Lively’s lawyers disclosed the amount, covering nearly $7.5 million in attorney鈥檚 fees from two law firms that represented her and about $500,000 in other expenses, in a court filing Tuesday.
Lively and Baldoni settled last month just before a trial was to start in federal court in Manhattan on that he engineered an effort to damage her public reputation and credibility after she accused him of sexually harassing her while shooting the movie.
Baldoni, who directed the dark romantic drama and starred in it with Lively, denied her claims.
Lively received no money in the settlement, but a judge subsequently ruled that she is entitled to recover some legal costs she incurred after Baldoni filed a countersuit against her. The judge must still approve the amount she is seeking.
One of Lively鈥檚 lawyers, Michael Gottlieb, wrote in a court declaration that he charged her an average hourly rate of $2,187 鈥� a discount from his usual $2,795 per hour. He said he billed 224 hours for work on her defense to Baldoni鈥檚 countersuit, totaling $457,000 in fees.
Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios LLC, 鈥渆mployed scorched-earth litigation tactics designed to drain Lively鈥檚 resources,鈥� her lawyers wrote in their filing.
鈥淭hey could have ended it (and offered to reimburse Lively) at any time. Having refused to do so, they should be ordered to reimburse Lively for all of the costs, attorney鈥檚 fees, and expenses they improperly forced her to incur,鈥� they wrote.
A message seeking comment was left for Baldoni鈥檚 lawyer.
Lively, 38, sued Baldoni, 42, and Wayfarer Studios in December 2024, accusing them of conspiring with publicists to preemptively destroy her reputation after she privately accused him of sexual harassment on the 鈥淚t Ends With Us” set.
Weeks later, Baldoni sued Lively, accusing her, her husband 鈥� 鈥淒eadpool鈥� actor Ryan Reynolds 鈥� and their publicist of defamation and extortion.
Baldoni 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.
Judge Lewis J. Liman threw out Baldoni鈥檚 countersuit last year and then dismissed Lively鈥檚 sexual harassment claims, saying she could not bring them because she was an independent contractor rather than an employee on the movie set.
In allowing Lively to recover legal costs, the judge cited a California law designed to protect survivors of sexual harassment and discrimination from retaliatory lawsuits meant to intimidate and silence victims.
Liman said the law requires that the plaintiff must pay the defendant鈥檚 legal fees and costs if a defamation claim made in response to a lawsuit is dismissed, even if the facts of the case have not been developed through the gathering of evidence.
Liman said an exception would be if Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, could prove malice fueled Lively鈥檚 claims, but that they had produced no evidence to show that.
In their court filing, Lively’s lawyers said $4.5 million should be paid to Gottlieb鈥檚 firm, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and about $3 million should go to the firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP.
The judge rejected Lively’s claims to triple any damages and pursue punitive damages as well under the California law, saying that they did not fall within 鈥渃arefully crafted federal procedural rules designed to protect the rights of the parties.鈥�
鈥淚t Ends With Us,鈥� an adaptation of about a relationship devolving into domestic violence, was released in August 2024 and .
Lively appeared in the 2005 film 鈥淭he Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants鈥� and the TV series 鈥淕ossip Girl鈥� from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films including 鈥淭he Town鈥� and 鈥淭he Shallows.鈥�
Baldoni starred in the TV comedy directed the 2019 film 鈥淔ive Feet Apart鈥� and wrote 鈥淢an Enough,鈥� a book challenging traditional notions of masculinity.
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