Blake Lively awarded $400,000 in legal fees over dismissed Justin Baldoni lawsuit

Lively had been seeking $8 million in fees over the lengthy legal battle related to allegations of on-set misconduct.

Blake Lively can recover about $400,000 in attorneys’ fees from Justin Baldoni’s production company over his defamation lawsuit against her, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Lively had been seeking $8 million.

U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed Baldoni’s defamation and extortion lawsuit against Lively last year, and she was allowed to move forward with a request for financial damages under a California #MeToo-era law.

Liman wrote in his ruling that while “counsel’s rates were not unreasonable… the number of hours for which Lively seeks reimbursement is unreasonable.”

He also rejected her request for fees related to media relations expenses and some travel.

In a statement, Lively’s attorneys, Esra Hudson and Michael Gottlieb, said, in part, “Blake Lively’s case was never about money — it was about accountability. She lifted the curtain for other victims, and set the precedent for others to come forward and expose similar conduct. This result demonstrates that the legal system is not as easily manipulated as social media, and still functions as a force for accountability.”