Skip to main content

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni recently settled their lawsuit before the case went to trial. Lively sued Baldoni in 2024 for sexual harassment and illegally retaliating against her. Baldoni countersued, though a judge later dismissed his suit. The pair reportedly did not exchange money in the settlement, but they spent a great deal leading up to it. Lawyers speculate that Lively and Baldoni spent millions on legal fees.

Lively and Baldoni reached a settlement a year and a half after she first sued him. They each had multiple lawyers on their teams, and these high-powered attorneys likely have high fees. Experts speculate that both Lively and Baldoni spent a staggering amount on the legal proceedings.

“Millions,” attorney Richard Schoenstein told People. “The combined legal expense is in the multiple millions. There are around 1,500 docket entries, countless lawyers on both sides, and these are high-priced firms billing well over $1,000 an hour.”

Another attorney agreed.

“An obscene amount,” said attorney Megan Thomas, founder of Megan Thomas Law, PLLC. “I can’t give a number, but both sides had multiple lawyers.”

Just weeks before they were set to go to trial, representatives for Lively and Baldoni announced that they’d reached a settlement. 

“The end product — the movie It Ends With Us — is a source of pride to all of us who worked to bring it to life,” their lawyers told NBC News in a joint statement. “Raising awareness, and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors — and all survivors — is a goal that we stand behind.”

At this point, the details of the settlement are unclear, though sources say that Lively and Baldoni made no money.

“Anyone purporting to confirm the terms of the confidential settlement at this point is misleading you,” a source told Variety. “More information about this confidential settlement will be on the court’s docket in the coming days.”

Lawyers shared why they may have settled

According to Schoenstein, the massive cost of the case wasn’t worth whatever either side could gain. He believes that this realization may have led them to settle. 

“I think they settled because the case wasn’t worth it at this point for either of them,” he said. “The case had been reduced — his counterclaims were dismissed, and her claims were substantially narrowed. There wasn’t enough to gain from going to trial given the cost, which would have been extremely high, in the millions.”

Related

Did Blake Lively Just Throw Shade at Former BFF Taylor Swift?

He added that both sides have taken a PR hit, which a trial likely would not help. 

“There’s also the potential adverse PR impact of a trial, and all the evidence that would come out — including possibly involving other people,” he added. “Neither side could have had strong confidence in the outcome, since juries are unpredictable.”

Thomas noted that both Baldoni and Lively are wealthy, so they likely took their reputation into account more than money.

“These are two very wealthy parties, so money may not have been the main issue,” Thomas said. “Reputation likely mattered more.”

Still, she noted that many cases settle just before the trial starts.

Best in News