Blake Lively has landed a small win in her legal battle with Justin Baldoni.
The New York Times reports that a federal judge has granted the actress attorneys fees in the long-running back-and-forth. The decision is an outgrowth of Baldoni and his associates’ defamation suit, where he claimed that Lively lied about experiencing sexual harassment on the set of their movie, It Ends With Us.
Judge Lewis Liman found that Lively’s case followed a California law that prevents “the weaponization of defamation suits to intimidate those who make harassment complaints,” The Times writes. According to the judge, Baldoni “had provided no evidence that Ms. Lively had made her accusations with malice.”
“Allegations are insufficient on their own to demonstrate that statements were in fact made with malice,” the judge penned. “That determination requires some evidence.”
Lively’s attorneys responded to the judge’s decision, saying it’s now indisputable that the actress made her claims in good faith and that her case serves as an example of how the California law has forged “a path for survivors to hold accountable those who weaponize online attacks and retaliatory lawsuits to intimidate and silence survivors.”
Baldoni’s lawyer also responded: “Ms. Lively was only awarded limited attorney fees for a single claim as part of a case that lasted only a matter of months, nothing more.”
The exact amount of attorneys’ fees to be awarded will be subject to further argument.
In late 2024, Lively sued Baldoni, claiming that she was subjected to sexual harassment on set and later became a victim of a negative public relations campaign. In May of this year, news surfaced that the pair had reached an agreement two weeks before their scheduled trial, with reports revealing that no money would be exchanged in the settlement.
