Attorneys for Baldoni described Lively’s request as “anything but a typical fee motion” in the filing obtained by PEOPLE on Monday, July 13

Justin Baldoni is asking a federal judge to deny or “substantially reduce” Blake Lively’s request for more than $8 million in attorneys’ fees and litigation costs.

In a filing submitted Monday, July 13 and obtained by PEOPLE, Baldoni, 42, and Wayfarer Studios described Lively’s request as “anything but a typical fee motion,” arguing that her attorneys charged “excessive” hourly rates, among other claims.

The filing points to a similar request for attorney fees from The New York Times as a benchmark to argue that Lively’s request for $8 million is excessive. Baldoni’s attorneys argue that the Times only sought $181,622.70 in attorneys’ fees in a “motion to dismiss precisely the same defamation claim.”

In 2024, Baldoni sued the Times for $250 million, arguing that the newspaper defamed him by reporting that he and his PR team had engaged in a “smear campaign” against Lively, as previously reported by PEOPLE. That claim was later dismissed.

PEOPLE reached out to representatives for Lively and Baldoni for comment.

Monday’s filing additionally argues the case was overstaffed, claiming there were multiple attorneys at hearings, excessive internal conferencing, and 7,070.20 billable hours billed by 82 timekeepers—which, according to the filing, is about 20 times what courts have previously approved in comparable high-profile defamation cases.

“The most cursory review of Lively’s submission shows multiple lawyers at the same hearings, numerous charges for lawyers conferencing, conferring, or strategizing with one another, and to put it mildly, extremely excessive research and online investigation,” the filing alleges.

In addition to attorney’s fees, Lively, 38, seeks “$539,514.01 in costs and expenses,” which the filing describes as “a whopping” amount.

The filing asks Judge Lewis Liman to deny the motion in its entirety, or to substantially reduce any fees awarded to Lively.

“Lively fails to meet her burden to present credible evidence showing that the fees and costs she seeks to recover are reasonable and, accordingly, her fee motion should be denied in its entirety,” the filing argues. “At minimum, the Court should substantially reduce the request, using as a benchmark the $181,622.70 the Times sought after securing dismissal of Count II on its separate motion to dismiss – the same outcome Lively achieved.”

(A Lively source says there were significant differences between the Times case and Lively’s case, including that there was no lengthy discovery process with the Times; the judge in the case granted the Times’s request for a stay in discovery before dismissing the case altogether.)

The legal battle began after the production and promotion of It Ends With Us. Lively sued Baldoni in December 2024, and he later countersued her and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for $400 million. Judge Liman dismissed the countersuit in June 2025.

A year later, following the judge’s decision that she was owed fees, Lively asked the court to award $7,495,526.87 in attorneys’ fees and $539,514.01 in litigation costs and expenses under California Civil Code Section 47.1 after Judge Liman dismissed Baldoni’s defamation-related claims against her.

Baldoni spoke out for the first time alongside his wife Emily Baldoni in a video posted on Instagram on July 8. In the clip, Emily said that while the two share “immense gratitude” for their supporters, it “doesn’t negate the injustice and the pain that we have also felt in the last few years,” adding that she and her husband experienced “a lot of trauma” that made it difficult to speak publicly.

“We don’t even know if this is the right thing to say,” Justin said. “We just know we need to share something. What I will say is that there have been so many painful things that have been spoken into existence over the last couple of years. That created so much noise, and we didn’t want to add to the noise. So we just wanted to let the justice system run its course.”

According to Lively’s June 29 filing, the legal fees stem from the “successful defense of the Wayfarer Action” and cover legal work performed between January 2025, when Baldoni filed his countersuit against Lively and Reynolds, 49, and June 2025, when the court’s deadline to amend the dismissed complaint expired.

Her attorneys argued the work required to defeat the lawsuit was “comprehensive and necessary to achieve the complete win that was secured,” adding that Lively “has paid, and continues to pay” her legal bills. They also said she intends to seek any additional attorneys’ fees incurred while litigating the fee application itself.

After filing the motion, Lively’s attorneys, Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, said the request carries significance beyond reimbursing their client for her legal expenses.

“Thanks to this landmark decision, those considering using a lawsuit as a weapon of intimidation have been put on notice that there are consequences for doing so,” the attorneys said in a statement. “The value of this ruling is in the precedent it creates, the accountability it imposes, and the protection it provides to those who may one day find themselves facing similar retaliation for speaking the truth.”

Lively’s filing argues the case’s unusually high profile drove up litigation costs, citing extensive media coverage, significant discovery and motion practice. According to her attorneys, the litigation involved more than 7,000 documents produced by Lively, along with tens of thousands more from the Wayfarer parties and third parties.

The parties settled the broader litigation in May, leaving Judge Liman to decide whether Baldoni must pay Lively’s attorneys’ fees and litigation costs related to his counterclaim and, if so, how much.

Source: https://people.com/justin-baldoni-challenges-blake-lively-legal-fee-request-12013068