Blake Lively can recover legal fees and costs from Justin Baldoni after a judge ruled in her favour on Friday, but she will not receive punitive damages or other compensation she sought in their ongoing legal battle over the 2024 film It Ends With Us.
Judge Lewis J Liman of the US District Court in New York cited a California law protecting sexual harassment survivors from retaliatory lawsuits. The law requires the plaintiff to pay the defendant's legal fees if a defamation claim made in response to a lawsuit is dismissed, even without full evidence development. The judge noted that Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios LLC, provided little evidence that Lively acted with malice, the only exception to the fee award.
Lively and Baldoni settled the bulk of their dispute in May 2025, just before trial. Lively received no monetary settlement but was allowed to pursue legal fees. The judge rejected her requests for triple damages and punitive damages, stating they fell outside federal procedural rules.
Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation in December 2024, alleging he orchestrated a smear campaign. Baldoni denied the claims and countersued for defamation and extortion. Judge Liman dismissed Baldoni's countersuit in June 2025 and later dismissed Lively's harassment claims, ruling she was an independent contractor, not an employee.
Both parties' lawyers did not immediately comment. It Ends With Us, based on Colleen Hoover's novel, was released in August 2024 and exceeded box office expectations.
