Although they reached a settlement in May 2026, the legal battle between Justin Baldoni<\/a> and Blake Lively<\/a> continues to escalate. In fact, the Gossip Girl<\/em> actress has now filed another multi-million-dollar lawsuit<\/a> against her It Ends With Us<\/em> director and co-star. <\/p>\n People<\/em><\/a> reported that Lively submitted a request on Monday, June 29, seeking $8.04 million in legal fees and more than $539,000 in litigation expenses from Baldoni after his defamation lawsuit against her was thrown out. A judge ordered Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, to respond by July 13, which they did.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n According to court documents obtained by <\/a>People<\/em><\/a>, Baldoni and the Wayfarer team pushed back against Lively\u2019s petition and described it as \u201canything but a typical fee motion.\u201d They\u00a0argued that Lively\u2019s attorneys charged \u201cexcessive\u201d hourly rates and that the case was \u201coverstaffed,\u201d citing \u201cmultiple lawyers at the same hearings, numerous charges for lawyers conferencing, conferring, or strategizing with one another, and, to put it mildly, extremely excessive research and online investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n Related: Taylor Swift & Justin Baldoni\u2019s Relationship Reportedly Takes Dramatic Turn as Her Friendship with \u2018Devastated\u2019 Blake Lively Officially Ends<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Baldoni is now asking Judge Lewis Liman to deny Lively\u2019s request in its entirety or to reduce any fees awarded to her.<\/p>\n \u201cLively fails to meet her burden to present credible evidence showing that the fees and costs she seeks to recover are reasonable and, accordingly, her fee motion should be denied in its entirety,\u201d the filing stated. \u201cAt minimum, the Court should substantially reduce the request, using as a benchmark the $181,622.70 the Times sought after securing dismissal of Count II on its separate motion to dismiss \u2013 the same outcome Lively achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n Baldoni\u2019s response to Lively\u2019s latest filing against him comes shortly after he and his wife, Emily Baldoni, spoke out for the first time since his legal war with Lively began in late 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had to wrestle with so many things and try to understand so many things, like how could something like this even happen? Let alone disguised as a fight for women. So much to unpack,\u201d Emily explained in an Instagram video shared on July 8. She also revealed that both she and Baldoni have endured \u201ca lot of trauma\u201d that makes it difficult to speak openly about the situation.<\/p>\n Baldoni noted, \u201cWhat I will say is that there have been so many painful things that have been spoken into existence over the last couple of years. That created so much noise, and we didn\u2019t want to add to the noise. So we just wanted to let the justice system run its course.\u201d<\/p>\n As for their current wellbeing, Baldoni said, \u201cWe are healing. If you\u2019ve ever been through something traumatic, you know that healing isn\u2019t linear. It looks different every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Even though the Baldonis didn\u2019t name-drop Lively, sources say she\u2019s infuriated<\/a> by the video. \u201cBlake watched every second of the video, and she was absolutely furious,\u201d an insider told Rob Shuter\u2019s Naughty But Nice<\/a><\/em>. \u201cShe believes Justin is trying to rewrite history and recast himself as the victim. That\u2019s not how she sees it.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite her anger, Lively intends to stay silent. \u201cShe\u2019s not taking the bait,\u201d a source claimed. \u201cBlake has no interest in giving this another news cycle. In her mind, the case is over, and she\u2019s determined to keep it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Lively\u2019s husband, Ryan Reynolds, is said to be \u201cenraged.\u201d According to another insider, \u201cHe thinks Justin is reopening wounds that everyone worked incredibly hard to close. He doesn\u2019t understand why anyone would want to drag this back into the spotlight.\u201d<\/p>\n Sources alleged that Lively and Reynolds did consider issuing a response to the Baldonis. Still, in the end, they felt that \u201csilence was their strongest move\u201d because \u201cresponding only amplifies his message. They think the most powerful statement they can make is saying nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBlake has moved on, even if Justin hasn\u2019t,\u201d a separate source added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Justin](\"https:\/\/stylecaster.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blake-lively-justin-baldoni-video.jpeg?w=300&h=168&crop=1\")
<\/div>\n