It NEVER ends! Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s battle continues as she demands he pay legal fees for his failed defamation lawsuit days after their shock settlement

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal battle may be over, but they’re still taking shots at each other, the Daily Mail has revealed.

Just days after the warring parties in Lively’s nearly two-year battle against her It Ends With Us co-star reached a settlement, the actress is still pursuing him for legal fees and damages related to the unsuccessful $400 million defamation lawsuit she filed against him.

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

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

He is also seeking ‘up to treble compensatory and punitive damages,’ according to the court filing.

The document was filed in a New York court three days after Lively settled her own lawsuit against Baldoni, just two weeks before the case was set to go to trial.

Justin Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, accusing them of slander and extortion. The judge dismissed the allegations last June

In a joint statement announcing the settlement, neither side apologized but acknowledged that Lively’s allegations “deserved to be heard.”

Lively’s attorney, Michael Gottlieb, said in a filing that the court should impose “severe and mandatory penalties against any party who files unsuccessful retaliatory defamation lawsuits against sexual harassment and retaliation complainants.”

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

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

Gottlieb wrote that California Civil Code Section 47.1 is designed to ensure that people alleging sexual harassment can ‘share their experiences with courts, institutions, the press, and others without fear of litigation.’

The application also stated that Gottlieb was requested to submit a five-page brief to the court explaining how they wanted the judge to award him the money.

The surprise agreement marked the end of a two-year legal battle over the fallout from the 2024 movie It Ends With Us. Arrived two weeks before the case went to trial

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

Baldoni’s lawyers said any attempt to make Lively pay her legal fees for her case would be ‘cruel’.

They said she had the right to defend herself and that Lively wanted the judge to find that she was ‘free of any blame for her wrongful conduct.’

The judge called on Liman to impose ‘substantial remedies’ on Baldoni, including treble damages and punitive damages.

Although the full agreement has not yet been made public, a court document stated that both parties waived their right to object to the agreement.

Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, one of Lively’s lawyers, said in their statement that the agreement was a “sound victory” for their client.

They said: ‘By accepting this agreement and waiving his right to appeal, Justin Baldoni and all the defendants will now face personal liability for abusing the legal system to silence and intimidate Ms Lively.

By acknowledging that Ms. Lively’s concerns “deserved to be heard,” the defendants put an end, once and for all, to the fiction that Ms. Lively had “fabricated” her allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation.

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

A source in the Baldoni wing ignored Gottlieb’s request and said Judge Liman would rule on the matter anyway.

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

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

Documents obtained by the Daily Mail reveal Lively sought legal fees and additional damages in connection with Baldoni’s dismissed lawsuit

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

Earlier this week, the Daily Mail revealed that Lively did not receive a single dollar from the surprise deal.

Despite claiming to have lost nearly $300 million in earnings and income after falling victim to an alleged ‘smear campaign’, no money changed hands in the final settlement.

Sources on Baldoni’s side said they were ‘very happy’ with the way the case was resolved, and now it’s easy to see why.

The shock development comes after the case was decided just two weeks before it was due to go to trial in New York.

In a joint statement, both parties said filming the film “presented challenges” and that Lively’s “concerns deserve to be heard.”

But there was no apology, just a call for everyone to move on ‘peacefully’.

The lack of a financial settlement contrasts sharply with Lively’s demands for compensation for the damage done 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 ‘bad girl’ and a ‘bully’.

He claimed in court filings that he missed out on up to $87.8 million in losses from acting and sponsorship opportunities.

More money, up to $143.5 million in profits from Lively’s hair care and alcohol product range, allegedly disappeared following controversy over the film

Baldoni’s lawyers described these allegations as ‘pie-in-the-sky’ numbers and said Lively’s reputation had already been damaged by her actions.