Blake Lively wants US$8 million from Justin Baldoni over It Ends With Us dispute

Blake Lively is seeking US$8 million in legal costs from actor and director Justin Baldoni after resolving their dispute over the acrimonious production of their 2024 film It Ends With Us.

Lively’s lawyers disclosed the amount, covering nearly $7.5 million in lawyers’ fees from two law firms that represented her and about $500,000 in other expenses, in a court filing on Tuesday.

Lively and Baldoni settled last month just before a trial was to start in federal court in Manhattan on Lively’s claims that he engineered an effort to damage her public reputation and credibility after she accused him of sexually harassing her while shooting the film.

Baldoni, who directed the dark romantic drama and starred in it with Lively, denied her claims.

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.

One of Lively’s lawyers, Michael Gottlieb, wrote in a court declaration that he charged her an average hourly rate of $2,187 – a discount from his usual $2,795 per hour. He said he billed 224 hours for work on her defence to Baldoni’s countersuit, totalling $457,000 in fees.