We now know how much money Blake Lively is looking to get from Justin Baldoni to recoup the legal fees she supposedly accrued after he countersued her for defamation.
In a court filing this week, Lively’s legal team said the sum totals $8 million to cover nearly $7.5 million in attorney’s fees from two law firms that represented her and some $500,000 in other expenses.
The Financial Disclosure
According to the Associated Press, the filing demands $4.5 million be paid to attorney Michael Gottlieb’s firm, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and about $3 million to the firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP.
Gottlieb wrote in a court declaration that he personally charged Lively an average hourly rate of $2,187 – which allegedly is a discount from his usual $2,795 per hour – and billed 224 hours for work on her defense to Baldoni’s countersuit. That amounted to $457,000 in fees for his services alone.
The Legal Saga
The reveal marks the latest turn in the 18-month court battle between the It Ends With Us co-stars that began in December 2024 when Lively alleged Baldoni, who directed and starred in the project, sexually harassed her and later orchestrated a retaliatory smear campaign to destroy her reputation.
Baldoni, for his part, denied the allegations and countered with a $400 million defamation claim against Lively that was dismissed last summer. In September, Lively filed a motion for attorneys fees, triple damages, and punitive damages under a 2023 California law meant to protect sexual abuse accusers from retaliatory defamation suits. The “Speak Your Truth Act” allows individuals sued over privileged sexual harassment communications to be paid attorneys fees and other damages, per California Civil Code section 47.1(b).
That motion was awaiting ruling when Lively and Baldoni reached a last-minute settlement on what remained of her case against him in May. She earned nothing for her claims in the settlement, but, as part of the agreement, both sides said they would abide by U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman’s ruling on the fee motion and not appeal.
Judge Liman gave Lively a partial victory last month when he ruled she was entitled to recover her defense costs related to the countersuit that was only active for less than five months. Baldoni, on the other hand, got a major win when the judge denied Lively’s request for punitive damages that she wanted to be tripled.
The Fallout
On Thursday’s Megyn Kelly Show, Megyn summed up the crux of Lively’s $8 million demand: “She sued him. She smeared him. She made up all these lies about him. He filed a counterclaim for defamation saying these are defamatory lies. She managed to get it dismissed on the papers and, thanks to this California law… she is entitled to her fees. She is claiming just to get his counterclaim dismissed cost her $8 million in legal fees. That is so outrageous. If she actually spent that, she is insane.”
And while Lively may be entitled to be repaid what Megyn called “reasonable fees” under the law, she believes this latest cash grab is more so about perpetuating her ‘victim’ narrative than anything else.
“To the end, she is punitive and she is punishing,” Megyn said. “I guarantee you Justin Baldoni doesn’t have $8 million. You know who does? Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. You can put probably another two zeros after that $8 million when you look at their fortune. I don’t understand what she is doing here. I don’t understand why she is dragging this narrative out.”
Megyn’s guest, Maureen Callahan, said Lively appears to have unwittingly overplayed her hand and is just starting to understand with the fallout. “I think [she was] operating on the old ways of doing things, and everybody who is in the digital lane… pays attention… [and] we know what’s really going on here,” she posited.
“It is no accident that Blake Lively has not booked another acting role,” Callahan noted. “What director is ever going to work with her? What director is going to think she is not going to turn around and do the same thing to me?”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Callahan by tuning in to episode 1,352 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.