For nearly two years, the legal fight between Blake Lively and her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni was one of the most followed stories in entertainment. Here is where it ended up.
Moral Of The Story
Lively sued Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, in December 2024. She alleged harassment on set and then a campaign to damage her reputation afterward. Baldoni had denied the claims and answered in January 2025 with a $400 million countersuit alleging defamation and extortion. Baldoni’s side maintained that the allegations were false.
The case then narrowed in stages:
- June 2025: A judge dismissed Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit, which also named Ryan Reynolds and the couple’s publicist, along with his defamation suit against The New York Times. The ruling didn’t address whether Baldoni’s account was true. It held that Lively’s harassment claims were legally protected and couldn’t support a defamation claim. (abcnewsCNN)
- April 2026: The judge dismissed much of Lively’s own lawsuit. (abcnews)
- May 2026: The two sides announced a settlement about two weeks before jury selection was due to begin. (CNN)
Legal Fees
One question was left over from the settlement: who pays for Lively’s defense against Baldoni’s failed lawsuit. On August 26, a judge ruled on it. Lively had asked for about $8 million in fees and costs. The judge found the number of hours she billed unreasonable, and awarded her $363,245.40 in attorneys’ fees and $44,206.35 in costs. Baldoni’s attorney noted that she received about 5% of what she asked for. Earlier, a separate ruling went Lively’s way on the principle: the judge found she was entitled to recover defense costs under a 2023 California law meant to protect people who report sexual abuse from retaliatory defamation suits. Both sides claimed parts of the outcome as a win.
Blake Lively awarded $400,000 in legal fees over dismissed Justin Baldoni lawsuit +2
Why This Matters Beyond Hollywood
Whatever your view of the dispute, the case offers practical lessons for anyone who works with talent, athletes, or artists in advertising and marketing.
- A public legal fight can damage everyone involved. The case produced years of headlines and the release of private messages. Brands with ties to a project or person caught in that kind of coverage often can’t control the story.
- Marketing campaigns are part of the record. Much of the dispute centered on how the film was promoted. Promotional plans, messaging, and who speaks for whom can end up as evidence, so they deserve the same care as contracts.
- Contracts and conduct policies matter. Clear workplace standards, reporting channels, and morals provisions protect both talent and the companies that hire them. They are much cheaper to put in place beforehand than to litigate afterward.
- Settlements don’t settle public opinion. Even with the case closed, opinion stays divided. Brands should expect that reputational questions can outlast the legal ones.
Bottom line is, the case never reached a jury, so a court never decided whose account was right on the central allegations. What the rulings did settle were narrower questions: which claims could go forward, what was protected by law, and how much of the legal bill had to be paid. Anyone writing about the case should be careful to keep those apart.
Sources: NBC, CNN, abcnews, Verity
