It Ends With Us actor Justin Baldoni is asking a judge to deny or “substantially reduce” his co-star Blake Lively’s “excessive” request for more than US$8 million in legal fees.
In a legal filing, submitted on Monday and obtained by Global News, Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios referred to Lively’s request as “anything but a typical fee motion.”
“Lively claims that she is entitled to a stunning $7,495,526 in attorney’s fees for 7,070.20 hours billed by no fewer than 82 timekeepers, to obtain the dismissal of a single defamation claim at the pleading stage. In contrast, The New York Times is seeking $181,000 in a fee request filed in state court for its motion to dismiss precisely the same defamation claim,” Baldoni’s lawyers wrote in the legal filing.
Baldoni’s legal team was referencing the New York Times seeking $181,000 in lawyer fees to dismiss the same defamation claim after Baldoni sued the newspaper for libel, over accusations that he engaged in a “smear campaign” against Lively but the lawsuit was dismissed in June 2025.
In the new legal filing, Baldoni’s lawyers Ellyn S. Garofalo and Bryan Freedman said that Lively “could not possibly have spent over 7,000 hours preparing the portion of the motion to dismiss directed to Wayfarer’s defamation claim.”
His legal team noted that the court “has discretion to exclude time that is excessive, redundant or otherwise unnecessary.”
“Lively does not provide billing statements or other records to support her $7.5 million demand, much less allocate fees to her defense of Wayfarer’s defamation claim,” the filing added.
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Baldoni’s legal team also suggests that the court should consider “whether the case was overstaffed, how much time the attorneys spent on particular claims, and whether the hours were reasonably expended.”
“The most cursory review of Lively’s submission shows multiple lawyers at the same hearings, numerous charges for lawyers conferencing, conferring, or strategizing with one another, and to put it mildly, extremely excessive research and online investigation,” Baldoni’s lawyers said.
“In sum, Lively fails to meet her burden to present credible evidence showing that the fees and costs she seeks to recover are reasonable and, accordingly, her fee motion should be denied in its entirety. At minimum, the Court should substantially reduce the request, using as a benchmark the $181,622.70 the Times sought after securing dismissal of Count II on its separate motion to dismiss – the same outcome Lively achieved.”
Lively and Baldoni’s legal saga began in December 2024, when Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation, first in a complaint. Then, in a lawsuit about a week later, Baldoni claimed in a January court filing that he felt pressured by Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds’ “megacelebrity friend” to approve scene revisions after a meeting at Lively and Reynolds’ home.
Baldoni sued Lively and Reynolds for defamation in January 2025. That lawsuit came the same day that Baldoni sued the New York Times for libel, alleging the paper worked with Lively to smear him.
In late March, Lively asked a judge to dismiss Baldoni’s countersuit, calling his claims “vengeful and rambling,” after she filed the lawsuit against him for sexual harassment and retaliation.
Last June, a judge dismissed Baldoni’s $400-million defamation claim against Lively and Reynolds after finding that her accusations of sexual harassment were legally protected, making them exempt from libel claims.
Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios denied Lively’s allegations and Baldoni was dismissed as a defendant in U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman’s April 2 ruling, when he threw out Lively’s sexual harassment claims.
Lively and Baldoni settled in May just before a trial was to start in federal court in Manhattan following Lively’s claims that Wayfarer Studios retaliated against her for complaining about misconduct and organized what she refers to as a “smear campaign” aimed at destroying her reputation and career prospects through negative social media posts.
In a joint statement released in May, lawyers for Lively and Baldoni shared their feelings about moving on from the legal battle.
“The end product — the movie It Ends With Us — is a source of pride to all of us who worked to bring it to life. Raising awareness, and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors — and all survivors — is a goal that we stand behind,” both parties’ lawyers said in a statement to Variety.
“We acknowledge the process presented challenges and recognize concerns raised by Ms. Lively deserved to be heard. We remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments. It is our sincere hope that this brings closure and allows all involved to move forward constructively and in peace, including a respectful environment online,” Freedman, Garofalo, Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson said.
In May, Baldoni’s lawyers asked a judge to deny any future proceedings related to Lively’s request to recover legal fees and damages that resulted from the legal dispute against Baldoni and his company, Wayfarer Studios.
Lively received no money in the settlement, but a judge subsequently ruled that she is entitled to recover some legal costs she incurred after Baldoni filed a countersuit against her. The judge must still approve the amount she is seeking.
Last month, Lively’s legal team filed documents, obtained by Global News, seeking more than $8 million in legal costs from Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios despite their agreement to resolve their legal differences in May.
In the legal filing, Lively’s lawyers disclosed the amount of $7,495, 526.87 in lawyer fees from two law firms that represented her and $539,514.01 in other expenses.
Lively’s lawyers said their work on the case for the It Ends With Us star’s lawsuit was “comprehensive and necessary to achieve the complete win that was secured.”
Lively and her legal team have not responded to Baldoni’s latest legal filing as of this writing.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.