Judge orders Justin Baldoni’s studio to pay Blake Lively $400,000 in legal costs

A Manhattan federal judge awarded Blake Lively roughly $400,000 in attorneys' fees and costs from Justin Baldoni's production company, closing out the civil case that grew from her sexual harassment allegations during filming of “It Ends With Us.” Lively's attorneys had sought about $8 million under a California anti-SLAPP statute designed to penalize retaliatory defamation suits against harassment complainants.

Judge Lewis Liman, who had already gutted 10 of Lively's 13 claims before trial, ruled the statute didn't entitle her to full reimbursement simply because Baldoni's countersuit included a defamation claim among other allegations. He also declined to compensate her for time spent on media strategy, finding that press relations weren't integral to defending against the defamation count.

Baldoni's $400 million countersuit accusing Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds of conspiring to destroy him was dismissed outright last summer. The parties privately settled the underlying case before trial, with terms undisclosed and Lively reportedly receiving no compensation under that agreement.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.