Guwahati: Actor and filmmaker Justin Baldoni has urged a federal judge to reject or significantly reduce Blake Lively's request for more than USD 8 million in attorneys' fees and litigation costs, marking the latest development in the high-profile legal dispute between the two actors.
As per court filing submitted on13th July , Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios argued that Lively's application is far from a routine fee request. They alleged that her legal team billed excessive hours, charged unreasonable rates and overstaffed the case, making the amount sought unjustifiable.
The filing, cited by People magazine, compares Lively's request with an earlier fee application submitted by The New York Times, which sought USD 181,622.70 after successfully defending against what Baldoni's lawyers described as the same defamation claim.
Baldoni had sued The New York Times for USD 250 million in 2024, alleging the newspaper defamed him by reporting that he and his public relations team had orchestrated a smear campaign against Lively. That lawsuit was later dismissed.
In the latest filing, Baldoni's legal team claimed Lively's lawyers logged 7,070.20 billable hours involving 82 timekeepers, with multiple attorneys allegedly attending the same hearings and conducting excessive internal meetings and research. They argued that the total was nearly 20 times higher than legal fees approved in comparable high-profile defamation cases.
Lively is seeking USD 7,495,526.87 in attorneys' fees and USD 539,514.01 in litigation costs under California Civil Code Section 47.1, following the dismissal of Baldoni's USD 400 million countersuit against her and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, in June 2025.
The legal battle stems from the production and promotion of the film It Ends With Us. Lively sued Baldoni in December 2024, after which Baldoni filed a countersuit that was ultimately dismissed by Judge Lewis Liman.
Baldoni's lawyers have asked the court to deny Lively's request in full or substantially reduce the amount, arguing that she has failed to provide credible evidence demonstrating that the legal fees and litigation costs claimed are reasonable. Meanwhile, Lively's legal team maintains that the work undertaken was extensive, necessary and instrumental in securing a complete legal victory, adding that she continues to bear the cost of the ongoing litigation.