Blake Lively seeks legal fees and damages from Justin Baldoni following his countersuit's dismissal
Blake Lively wants her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni to shoulder her legal fees and compensate her amid their legal saga.
E! News reported that Lively is looking to "seek a multi-million-dollar award" to recover costs in defending herself against Baldoni's "frivolous" claims against her.
Her lawyers said she's "entitled" to having her legal fees covered by Baldoni as the "prevailing defendant" in the $400 million (P22 billion) countersuit, which was dismissed in June.
Lively's lawyers said she's also "entitled to compensation for all harm caused to her" by Baldoni and his team, including his Wayfarer Studios production company and his lawyer Bryan Freedman, for their "vicious character attacks on Ms. Lively designed to damage her credibility."
"The Wayfarer Parties—with and through their lead attorney, Mr. Freedman—brought and maintained claims that were not based on factual or legal merit but instead a deliberate plan to discredit Ms. Lively and to harm her and her husband by suing them," they said.
Lively's team is looking to have her motion approved "prior to, and separate from" her jury trial against Baldoni in March 2026.
Lively and Baldoni's legal battle began in December 2024 when the actress filed a sexual harassment complaint against Baldoni and Jamey Heath of Wayfarer Studios, the producer of It Ends with Us.
In her complaint, Lively accused the two of telling her about their past sexual relationships and "previous porn addiction." Heath also allegedly showed Lively a video of his wife naked and giving birth.
Baldoni and Heath supposedly entered Lively's makeup trailer without permission, "including when she was breastfeeding her infant child." Lively also recalled Baldoni claiming he could communicate with the dead, including her father, Ernie Lively. She found it "off-putting and violative."
In response, Baldoni's camp has called the accusations in the report "categorically false." They later released a series of video takes during the production of It Ends with Us in an attempt to debunk Lively's sexual harassment allegations, which prompted Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, to request a gag order.
The camps of Lively and Baldoni have since traded barbs and filings.