[REVISION HISTORY]

Lively-Wayfarer and Wallace legal disputes

Updated 6 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-09-01 03:13 UTC → 2026-09-01 11:34 UTC · added ~~removed~~

In late July 2026, a New York Supreme Court judge granted summary judgment for The New York Times, ordering Justin Baldoni’s production company, Wayfarer Studios, to reimburse the newspaper $171,616 in legal fees. The ruling applied New York’s anti-SLAPP statute after Baldoni’s $250 million defamation suit against the Times—centered on reporting about Blake Lively’s harassment allegations during the film “It Ends With Us”—was dismissed. In August 2026, the legal conflicts expanded. Public-relations specialist Jed Wallace sought to depose Lively to determine if she made false statements in his firm’s administrative complaint. Lively, who is pursuing roughly $800,000 in attorney fees from Wallace following the dismissal of his defamation suit, missed a scheduled August 4 deposition, with her counsel labeling the notice “null and void.” Later in August 2026, a federal judge issued a ruling regarding the long-standing dispute between Lively and Baldoni. District Judge Lewis Liman awarded Lively approximately $407,451 in legal fees and court costs, consisting of $363,245 in attorney fees and $44,206 in costs. While Lively had originally sought over $8 million, the judge determined that the number of hours for which she sought reimbursement was “unreasonable” and that some documentation, such as original invoices, was incomplete. Judge Liman described the original request as an “outrageously unreasonable demand.” The ruling specifically excluded hours related to public relations and media management. The award is to be paid by Wayfarer Studios, following the settlement of their 18-month legal battle in May 2026. Lively’s legal team described the award as “historic,” while Baldoni’s attorney called the ruling a “significant victory” because the award was only about 5% of the initial request. By the end of August 2026, reports emerged suggesting that Lively’s legal challenges may have coincided with personal setbacks, including a reported rift with Taylor Swift.

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