Justin Baldoni has made another move in his long-running legal feud with Blake Lively. In his latest court filing, the focus is on the legal costs Lively is seeking following the resolution of their lawsuit. Baldoni argues the amount goes far beyond what the court should approve. The filing comes just days after he made his first public comments about the legal battle.
The actor argues the multimillion-dollar attorney fee request is excessive
On Monday, Baldoni requested a judge to lower Lively’s attorneys’ fees and litigation costs, according to Page Six. His legal team argued that the request includes unnecessary work and excessive billing by multiple attorneys. The filing alleges that several lawyers attended the same hearings and billed for overlapping strategy meetings and legal research. Baldoni’s attorneys described the request as far from a standard fee motion.
According to Page Six, Lively requested $7,495,526.87 in attorneys’ fees and $539,514.01 in litigation costs in June. Baldoni’s attorneys argued that many of those costs should not be approved. They also pointed to The New York Times’ request for $181,622.70 in attorneys’ fees while seeking dismissal of the same defamation claim. Earlier, Baldoni sued the newspaper for $250 million in 2024, but the court later dismissed that case, along with his $400 million lawsuit against Lively.
Lively and Baldoni resolved Lively’s lawsuit in May without going to trial. Neither side received any money under the settlement, but Lively continues to seek reimbursement for her legal expenses. Her representative declined to immediately comment on Baldoni’s latest filing. The legal dispute began in late 2024 and has continued through several court proceedings.
Last week, Justin Baldoni broke his silence on Instagram in a video alongside his wife, Emily Baldoni. He said there had been many hurtful and untrue statements surrounding the case and that he did not want the justice system to create more noise. Emily added that the truth and facts had spoken for themselves.
TELL US – HAS THE REAL-LIFE “IT ENDS WITH US” LEGAL FEUD REACHED ITS FINAL CHAPTER, OR SHOULD FANS EXPECT MORE TWISTS?
