Blake Lively has been hit with another blow in the seemingly endless legal battle with former It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni.
The 38-year-old has been told to relax in her ongoing effort to recoup attorney fees and damages connected with Baldoni’s dismissed lawsuit against her.
According to court documents, obtained by TMZ, the judge denied Lively’s request to file additional briefs and offer additional information as she argues she’s entitled to recovery of her legal fees and damages based on his filing of a defamation suit against her.
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The outlet reports that the judge told the Gossip Girl alum that, for the time being, he did not need any additional information before making his decision.
Baldoni and Lively reached a settlement in her December 2024 lawsuit against him last Monday.
But Lively is still seeking attorney’s fees and damages from Baldoni’s failed counter lawsuit from January 2025.
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“The parties have fully and finally resolved all claims in the consolidated action, except one,” Lively’s lead attorney Michael Gottlieb wrote in a letter filed in a Manhattan court last week, per NBC News.
An exemption in a notice of settlement, which was filed by both parties, states that Lively is seeking legal fees from Baldoni and his partners over a separate legal matter.
However, Baldoni’s attorneys argued in a legal filing that those penalties, if granted, could be “draconian”.
Lively previously argued that she is owed the fees and damages under a California law created in 2023 to protect sexual abuse accusers from retaliatory claims.
Although the judge dismissed Baldoni’s countersuit in June 2025, he didn’t rule on whether the 2023 law applied.
Baldoni’s team opposed Lively’s motion in October 2025 and argued that the actress’s filing violated his constitutional right to petition the courts.
His team also argued that the California law shouldn’t apply because the alleged sexual harassment incidents would have occurred in New Jersey, where the bulk of the 2024 film was shot.
The settlement reached between the pair on Monday May 4 came just days before the case was set to go to trial on May 18, and weeks after a judge threw out 10 of Lively’s 13 claims.
In a joint statement, the sides said: “Raising awareness, and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors – and all survivors – is a goal that we stand behind… 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.”
Baldoni, who directed the film and starred in it with Lively, had denied harassing her or orchestrating a smear campaign.
He’d claimed the complaints about his behaviour were made up by Lively as part of an effort to seize creative control of the movie.
The settlement will allow both sides to avoid a trial that would have featured Hollywood’s ugliest side and potentially led to more image-damaging revelations.
It has been reported that despite Lively and Baldoni spending a combined $60 million during their 18-month legal war, neither saw a penny in the agreed-upon settlement.
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