Los Angeles, June 30 (IANS) The legal showdown between Hollywood actress Blake Lively and actor-director Justin Baldoni is far from over. In a new development, the actress has asked a judge to award her $8 million in attorneys’ fees and costs for having to defend against Justin Baldoni‘s defamation suit against her.
The actress had accused Baldoni, her co-star and director, of sexually harassing her on the set of ‘It Ends With Us’, reports ‘Variety’.
She also levelled allegations of launching an online whisper campaign against her after she complained.
As per ‘Variety’, in response, Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios filed a $400 million defamation suit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, alleging that they had weaponized false allegations of harassment in order to seize control of the film.
The defamation suit was dismissed last year, after the judge ruled that Lively’s allegations were protected by litigation privilege. Lively dropped her lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer, and others on the eve of trial in May. No money changed hands in the settlement, but the actress was allowed to pursue her motion for fees.
Judge Lewis Liman agreed earlier this month that Lively should receive attorney fees under a 2023 California law meant to protect sexual abuse accusers from retaliatory defamation suits. At the same time, he denied her request for damages. In a motion filed on Monday night, actress’ lawyers stated they billed her $7.5 million in fees, at rates as high as $2,187 per hour, in the course of defending against the defamation suit.
Another $540,000 was spent on legal costs. Her attorneys argued that the fee award would help to deter frivolous and retaliatory suits against accusers in the future.
“This gross abuse of the legal system was not meant to win in court, its aim was to retaliate against the actress by falsely branding her a liar, intimidating witnesses and the media, and discouraging others from speaking out”, they wrote.
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