Blake Lively still going after Justin Baldoni after their settlement

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal war may be over – but they are still firing shots at each other, the Daily Mail can reveal. 

Just days after the feuding parties reached a settlement in Lively’s nearly two-year long battle against her It Ends With Us co-star, the actress is still pursuing him for legal fees and damages tied to his failed $400 million defamation case against her.  

Baldoni had countersued Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and the New York Times in early 2025, but a judge dismissed the lawsuit last year.

Now Lively is demanding he pay the costs of her responding to his lawsuit in a move that could spark weeks of more fighting. 

She is also demanding ‘compensatory damages tripled, and punitive damages,’  according to a court filing.

The document was filed at a New York court three days after Lively settled her own case against Baldoni, just two weeks before it was meant to go to trial.

Blake Lively – who returned to the red carpet at the Met Gala just hours after settling her legal battle with Justin Baldoni – is still pursuing him for legal feels after their case was settled 

Justin Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer had countersued Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, for $400 million, accusing them of defamation and extortion. The judge dismissed the claims last June

In a joint statement announcing the settlement, neither side apologized but they acknowledged Lively’s claims ‘deserved to be heard.’ 

Lively’s lawyer Michael Gottlieb said in a filing that the court should impose ‘severe and mandatory penalties against any party who files unsuccessful retaliatory defamation actions against sexual harassment and retaliation complainants.’

He said that Lively’s allegations against Baldoni were legally protected because she made them with the California Civil Rights Department.

Judge Lewis Liman, who oversaw both cases, agreed with her and dismissed Baldoni’s case in November last year on that basis.

Gottlieb wrote that California Civil Code Section 47.1, the applicable law, was designed to ensure that people who claim sexual harassment can ‘share their experiences with courts, agencies, the press, and others without fear of suit.’ 

Gottlieb also asked to submit a five-page brief to the court explaining how they want the judge to award her the money, the filing stated.

The surprise settlement marked the end of a two-year legal battle over the fallout from the 2024 movie It Ends With Us. It comes two weeks before the case was set to go to trial

The law was passed in 2023 in response to the MeToo movement and is relatively untested in the courts.

Baldoni’s lawyers have called any attempt to make him pay Lively’s legal fees for his own lawsuit would be ‘draconian’.

They have said that he had a right to defend himself and that Lively is asking the judge to find that ‘she is immune from any culpability for her wrongful acts.’ 

He urged Judge Liman to impose ‘significant remedies’ on Baldoni including treble damages and punitive damages. 

While the full settlement has not yet been made public so far, one court document noted that both sides waived their right to appeal it.

In a statement released on Thursday, Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, another of Lively’s lawyers, said that the settlement was a ‘resounding victory’ for their client.

‘By agreeing to this settlement, and waiving their right to appeal, Justin Baldoni and every individual defendant now face personal liability for abusing the legal system to silence and intimidate Ms Lively.

‘And by admitting that Ms Lively’s concerns ‘deserved to be heard’ the defendants have ended once and for all the fiction that Ms. Lively ‘fabricated’ claims of sexual harassment and retaliation.

‘From day one Blake Lively’s mission was clear: expose and hold accountable those who weaponize smear campaigns and retaliatory lawsuits to intimidate and silence survivors. That mission continues,’ the statement concluded. 

A source in the Baldoni camp played down the request from Gottlieb and said that Judge Liman was going to rule on it anyway.

Any legal fees could be in the tens of thousands of dollars rather than a significant sum, the source told the Daily Mail. 

Lively claimed that Baldoni sexually harassed her on the set of It Ends With Us then retaliated with a ‘smear campaign’ against her. 

Filings obtained by the Daily Mail reveal Lively is seeking legal fees and additional damages tied to Baldoni’s dismissed lawsuit 

Last month a judge dismissed 10 of her 13 claims including all of the sexual harassment allegations, and removed Baldoni as a named defendant.

Earlier this week the Daily Mail revealed Lively did not get a single dollar from the surprise settlement.

Despite claiming she lost nearly $300 million in earnings and income after being the victim of an alleged ‘smear campaign,’ no money changed hands in the final agreement. 

Sources in Baldoni’s camp said they were ‘ecstatic’ with how the case was resolved, and now it’s easy to see why.

The shock twist came after the case was settled just two weeks before it was due to go to trial in New York.

In a joint statement, both sides said that the filming of the movie ‘presented challenges’ and that Lively’s ‘concerns deserved to be heard.’ 

But there was no apology, only a call for everyone to move on ‘in peace.’ 

The lack of a financial settlement is a sharp contrast to Lively’s requests to be compensated for the damage to her reputation and film career.

The former ‘Gossip Girl’ star claimed in court documents that she lost as much as $40.5 million due to being branded a ‘mean girl’ and a ‘bully’.

She claimed in court filings that she missed out on up to $87.8 million in lost acting and endorsement opportunities.

Up to $143.5 million more was supposedly lost in profits from Lively’s haircare and alcohol range after the controversy over the film

Baldoni’s lawyers called these claims ‘pie in the sky’ figures and said that Lively’s reputation was already damaged due to her own actions.