It looks like Blake Lively will be seeing some money from her former It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni after their almost two-year legal battle that sparked reputational downfall for Lively. Manhattan Judge Lewis Liman has granted Lively attorney’s fees and costs, which Lively and her lawyers stated during her settlement with Baldoni in May that she was permitted to by California’s Civil Code Section 47.1, also known as the 2023 Protecting Survivors from Weaponized Defamation Lawsuits Act.
Liman, the brother of director Doug Liman, explained his reason for his ruling in a written statement about the case.
In the end, and stepping back, the policy Section 47.1 achieves is far simpler than the analysis its application requires: The statute ensures that if a plaintiff invokes California law to bring a defamation claim against a defendant for making statements regarding sexual assault, harassment, or discrimination, and the defendant succeeds in dismissing the claim, the plaintiff must pay the defendant’s legal fees and costs unless it turns out that the statements were made with malice. Lively made statements that come within the purview of Section 47.1, she prevailed on her defense, and—on this record—there is no evidence of malice. Accordingly, she is entitled to attorneys’ fees under Section 47.1.
While Baldoni and his team declined Deadline’s request for comment on the order, Lively’s lawyers, Esra Hudson and Michael Gottlieb, had a great deal to say, explaining,
Blake Lively won her motion under Civil Code Section 47.1. Today’s ruling makes it clear that Ms. Lively brought her claims in good faith, that there was no evidence she acted with malice, and that she is the prevailing defendant under Section 47.1. The Court is awarding Ms. Lively attorneys’ fees and costs and has explained that a prevailing defendant under Section 47.1 may seek damages using different procedural mechanisms. The parties’ settlement agreement expressly preserves Ms. Lively’s rights to obtain those damages. Ms. Lively is gratified that her lawsuit shows how Section 47.1 and laws like it create a path for survivors to hold accountable those who weaponize online attacks and retaliatory lawsuits to intimidate and silence survivors.
There is no estimate of how much those fees will be but based on the number of lawyers Lively has before even filing anything, it could be inferred that the total will be well over the one million mark.
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