The dust has mostly settled when it comes to the legal back-and-forth between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, but there’s still a piece of business that needs to be addressed. After Lively (38) sought damages and legal fees from Baldoni (42) following their legal settlement, she was granted the latter. As a result, the actress is now seeking almost $8 million in fees from her It Ends with Us collaborator. Insiders are now dropping claims about why this request has supposedly been difficult for Baldoni to deal with.
After Lively’s request was granted, Baldoni reportedly asked that a judge reduce or deny her petition. However, as of this writing, the Jane the Virgin alum is still faced with the order to satisfy that legal-based bill. Rob Shuter recently reported on this matter as part of his Naughty or Nice substack and, if his insiders are to be believed, this situation is causing financial strife for Baldoni. One source addressed the notion of Baldoni being monetarily set before sharing an allegation about his financial portfolio:
People assume Justin is sitting on a Hollywood fortune because he’s famous. The truth is, he isn’t. He doesn’t have anything close to the cash needed to cover a bill like this.
What also reportedly feeds into this money situation is Baldoni’s current career standing. It’s been alleged that he still wants to work and is even mulling a sequel to It Ends with Us. However, studio executives previously opined that both Baldoni and Lively would have trouble finding work moving forward after the damage that had been done to their reputations. As part of this recent report, another source weighed in Baldoni’s purported lack of prospects:
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The phone stopped ringing. Whether it’s deserved or not, this case made him toxic in the eyes of a lot of studios. People don’t want the baggage.
All of that “baggage” stems from Blake Lively filing a legal complaint in December 2024 and later suing Justin Baldoni for alleged sexual harassment and for reportedly launching a smear campaign against her. Baldoni denied those allegations and proceeded to countersue Lively, her husband (Ryan Reynolds) and others for $400 million on the grounds of alleged defamation, extortion and more. Following wins and losses on both sides, the two parties eventually settled this past May.
Still, questions remain in regard to whether Baldoni will ultimately end up paying Lively’s legal fees. One more insider also had this to say about the state of Baldoni’s financial well-being:
This isn’t just a legal loss—it’s becoming a financial collapse. Justin is fighting to protect what’s left, but every new ruling makes that harder.
While all these insider comments have to be taken with a grain of salt, what is known is that Justin Baldoni does have financial obligations. That’s particularly true due to him, his wife, Emily (41) having moved from California to Nashville, Tennessee earlier this year alongside their two kids and paid $3.4 million for their new abode. It remains to be seen what the future holds for Baldoni, from a monetary standpoint, and if he ends up paying Blake Lively.