Blake Lively has won another ruling in her long-running legal battle with Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios — but the amount she received was nowhere near what she originally requested.

On Wednesday, Aug. 26, U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman ordered Baldoni and Wayfarer to pay Lively $407,451.75 in attorneys’ fees and litigation costs connected to the defamation claims she successfully defeated.

The ruling came after Lively sought more than $8 million.

Liman agreed that the actress was entitled to recover some of the money she spent defending herself. But he sharply reduced her request, finding that she could not make Baldoni’s side pay for every part of the sprawling litigation simply because she had prevailed on the defamation claims.

The result was unusual enough that both sides immediately portrayed it as a victory.

Lively’s attorneys emphasized that the award was the first of its kind under a California law designed to protect people who report sexual harassment from retaliatory defamation litigation.

Baldoni’s attorney focused on a very different number: Lively received only about 5% of the more than $8 million she had requested.

Lively Asked for More Than $8 Million

The dispute over legal fees grew out of Baldoni’s now-dismissed counterclaims against Lively.

Lively had asked the court for a total of $8,035,040.88.

That included approximately $7.5 million in attorneys’ fees and about $539,000 in litigation expenses.

Her legal team argued that the work required to defend her was unusually extensive because the case involved significant discovery, multiple motions and enormous reputational and financial stakes.

According to PEOPLE, Lively’s lawyers pointed to more than 7,000 documents produced by her side, along with tens of thousands of additional documents from Wayfarer and third parties.

They also argued that the various claims were so interconnected that separating work performed on the dismissed defamation allegations from the rest of the litigation would be artificial.

Judge Liman disagreed with that broader interpretation.

He ruled that Lively could recover reasonable fees tied specifically to defending herself against the defamation claim — not the entire cost of the larger legal war.

The Judge Approved $363,245 in Legal Fees

Liman ultimately awarded Lively $363,245.40 in attorneys’ fees.

He also granted $44,206.35 in litigation costs.

Together, that produced the final amount of $407,451.75.

Interestingly, Liman did not conclude that Lively’s lawyers were charging unreasonable hourly rates.

Given the complexity and stakes of the dispute, he found their rates defensible.

He described the litigation as involving major financial and reputational risks and noted that it had been handled at a high level by the lawyers involved.

His problem was the number of hours for which Lively wanted reimbursement.

The judge called that total unreasonable.

Baldoni’s lawyers had argued that Lively’s legal team overstaffed the matter, using 82 timekeepers and billing more than 7,000 hours. They also argued that many of the charges had little or nothing to do with defeating Baldoni’s defamation claims.

Liman agreed in part.

Media Strategy Was One Expense the Court Rejected

One specific category the judge refused to make Baldoni and Wayfarer pay involved media relations.

The legal battle surrounding It Ends With Us became one of Hollywood’s most closely watched disputes, producing extensive press coverage and competing public narratives.

But Liman ruled that dealing with the media was not necessary to defend Lively against the defamation claim in court.

Therefore, time spent on press coverage and media relations could not be shifted to Baldoni’s side as recoverable legal fees.

That distinction helped reduce the final award dramatically.

The ruling illustrates an important point about attorney-fee awards: even when one party qualifies to recover fees, that does not automatically mean the opposing side must reimburse every dollar spent during a broader legal conflict.

The Fee Fight Came From Baldoni’s $400 Million Case

The legal-fee issue traces back to Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and others.

Baldoni, who directed and starred opposite Lively in the 2024 adaptation of It Ends With Us, filed claims including defamation and civil extortion after Lively accused him and his associates of misconduct and retaliation.

Baldoni denied her allegations.

In June 2025, Judge Liman dismissed Baldoni’s defamation-related claims. The judge later formally closed the case after Baldoni and his co-plaintiffs did not file an amended complaint.

As part of the June ruling, Liman determined that Lively qualified as a prevailing defendant under California Civil Code Section 47.1.

That finding gave her the right to seek reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs connected with the dismissed defamation claims.

The Aug. 26 ruling answered the next question: how much was “reasonable”?

The answer was roughly $407,000.

The Broader Fight Began in December 2024

Lively’s dispute with Baldoni erupted publicly in December 2024.

She filed a lawsuit accusing her It Ends With Us costar and director, Wayfarer Studios and others of sexual harassment and retaliation, including an alleged effort to damage her reputation after she raised concerns about conditions during the production.

Baldoni denied wrongdoing and fought back with legal claims of his own.

The dispute quickly expanded far beyond a disagreement between two actors.

Reynolds became involved.

Publicists, production executives and media organizations were pulled into various claims.

Private communications and documents became the subject of intense scrutiny.

And the case generated months of headlines while both camps accused the other of manipulating the public narrative.

Some elements of Lively’s own claims were also narrowed as the litigation progressed.

Reuters reported that the court later dismissed harassment claims against Baldoni on the basis that Lively was an independent contractor, while allowing claims involving Wayfarer to continue.

The Larger Litigation Was Settled Before Trial

Despite years of escalating accusations, the broader dispute did not ultimately reach the full trial that many observers expected.

Lively and Wayfarer settled their remaining litigation in May 2026, approximately two weeks before trial was scheduled to begin.

The Aug. 26 fee ruling therefore dealt with an important piece of unfinished business from claims that had already been dismissed.

Both sides also agreed not to appeal the fee decision, Reuters reported.

That means the $407,451.75 figure is expected to stand.

Lively’s Lawyers Called the Decision ‘Historic’

Lively’s legal team focused less on the difference between $8 million and $407,000 and more on the legal principle behind the award.

Her attorneys Esra Hudson and Michael Gottlieb called the decision “historic,” saying it represented the first fee-and-cost award under the relevant California statute.

They argued that the ruling demonstrates that there can be financial consequences when someone brings a retaliatory lawsuit against a person who has reported alleged sexual misconduct.

They also reiterated that Lively’s case, in their view, had always been about accountability rather than money.

The law at issue was enacted in 2023 and is intended in part to protect people from certain defamation actions arising from allegations of sexual assault or harassment.

That makes the ruling potentially important beyond the celebrity dispute itself.

Baldoni’s Team Saw the Same Decision Very Differently

Baldoni and Wayfarer’s attorney Bryan Freedman offered almost the opposite interpretation.

He highlighted the fact that Liman rejected the overwhelming majority of Lively’s request.

Freedman characterized the original $8 million demand as excessive and said receiving approximately 5% of the requested amount represented a significant victory for his clients.

That is why the ruling does not fit neatly into a simple winner-versus-loser headline.

Lively successfully established that she was entitled to reimbursement.

Baldoni and Wayfarer successfully persuaded the judge that the reimbursement should be dramatically smaller than she requested.

Both facts are true.

A $407,000 Ending to an $8 Million Question

The latest ruling offers a revealing snapshot of a legal conflict in which almost every development has produced competing interpretations.

Lively asked for more than $8 million.

The court found she had a legal right to recover some of her costs.

But the judge refused to treat every hour and expense associated with the broader fight as something Baldoni and Wayfarer should have to pay.

The final award: $407,451.75.

For Lively’s side, the significance lies in establishing that the California protection can carry real financial consequences.

For Baldoni’s side, the significance lies in the roughly $7.6 million the judge declined to award.

And after a dispute that once included a $400 million countersuit, allegations of professional retaliation and years of highly public litigation, even a six-figure legal-fee ruling has become another chapter both sides can claim as their own victory.