Blake Lively's bid for another Justin Baldoni payout rejected by judge
Blake Lively had sued her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni on allegations of sexual harassment and accusing him of orchestrating a “smear campaign” following her complaints about alleged conduct during the production of the film.
A judge has rejected Blake Lively's bid to receive another payout from Justin Baldoni after the pair’s shock settlement out of court.
The actress had sued her It Ends With Us co-star and director on allegations of sexual harassment and accusing him of orchestrating a “smear campaign” following her complaints about alleged conduct during the production of the film.
Justin subsequently filed a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Blake, Ryan and The New York Times in January 2025, arguing the allegations against him were false.
A settlement between the pair was made outside of court - days before it was due to go to trial - with financial details of the agreement kept private.
However, Blake had returned to court seeking legal fees, costs, punitive damages and additional compensation from Justin and his production company Wayfarer Studios.
On Friday (12Jun26), Judge Lewis Liman ruled that Blake could not seek any treble or punitive damages under a Californian law (Civil Code Section 47.1) - initially designed to protect anyone making sexual misconduct allegations.
In a ruling of 47 pages, the judge accused Blake of trying to “circumvent” the law by trying to make an “end run”.
He wrote: "(The law) does not create an end run around the entire set of carefully crafted federal procedural rules designed to protect the rights of the parties.
“It instead establishes a narrow exception to the usual litigation process for a specific and limited kind of relief. Compensatory and punitive damages do not fall within that exception.”
However, the judge did grant one of Blake’s requests - for legal fees - acknowledging that it was made “on much firmer ground”.
He went on to stress that he was making no decisions as to an “appropriate measure of fees” at this point in the court battle, or how much Blake will receive to cover legal costs.
In another bonus for Blake, the judge ruled that he had found no evidence of malice - a term used to describe making a false claim with the knowledge that it’s untrue - meaning that he agrees that Blake believed her allegations when she made them.
Earlier this year, both Blake and Justin issued a rare joint statement reflecting on their work together on It Ends With Us - the film adaptation of It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover.
The film became one of the year’s most talked-about releases amid both box office success and intense media scrutiny surrounding the legal fallout between its stars.
The statement said: “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.”
It added: “Raising awareness, and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors – and all survivors – is a goal that we stand behind.”
