Blake Lively has requested additional time from the federal judge overseeing her legal battle with Justin Baldoni, citing a packed summer schedule that includes international travel as she prepares to argue for legal fees.
The “Gossip Girl” alum’s legal team submitted a letter to the judge asking for an extension of the June 22 deadline to submit papers detailing how much she will seek in attorneys’ fees. The request seeks anywhere from seven to thirty additional days, potentially pushing the submission to mid-July.
Lively’s lawyers explained they require the extra time to gather relevant arguments and billing records. They also noted that their team faces “a number of conflicting personal and professional obligations, including international travel”. A judge has yet to rule on the extension request.
The motion comes after the broader legal war between the It Ends With Us co-stars was settled in early May, just weeks before a scheduled trial. The settlement resolved most of the outstanding claims, but specifically preserved Lively’s right to continue pursuing attorneys’ fees and damages under California Civil Code Section 47.1.
The California law, passed in 2023 as part of the “Speak Your Truth Act,” protects sexual harassment accusers from retaliatory defamation lawsuits and allows successful defendants to recover legal fees and other damages. Lively’s attorneys have argued that Baldoni’s dismissed defamation counterclaim is precisely the kind of retaliatory lawsuit the law was designed to prevent.
On June 12, Judge Lewis J. Liman issued a ruling that gave Lively a partial victory. He ordered Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios to cover Lively’s legal fees related to defending against the defamation claim. However, the judge denied Lively’s request for punitive and treble damages, stating that her attempt to seek them through a procedural motion was effectively “an end run” around the need for a jury trial.
In his ruling, Judge Liman wrote that Rule 54(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “does not sweep so broadly” as to allow for compensatory and punitive damages under the same procedures used for attorneys’ fees.
Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, has called Lively’s continued pursuit of damages a “pending request for fees based on a very narrow issue” and has argued that any monetary penalties would be unwarranted. Lively’s attorneys, however, have maintained that their client is entitled to recover defense costs and additional damages under the California statute.
