While the May 2026 settlement agreement disposed of Lively\u2019s already drastically whittled-down<\/a> civil suit over Baldoni\u2019s on-set behavior during the filming of the 2024 \u00adromance drama \u2014 on the surviving counts of retaliation, aiding and abetting retaliation and breach of contract\u00a0\u2014 \u00a0her attorneys claim she\u2019s still entitled<\/a> to legal fees and costs, compensatory damages and punitive damages from Baldoni under California Civil Code Section 47.1<\/a>.<\/p>\n Prompted by litigation in the wake of the #MeToo movement in the late 2010s, the California fee-shifting legislation protects sexual misconduct accusers from retaliatory defamation lawsuits by imposing mandatory penalties \u2014 automatically tripled by statute \u2014 against any party who files unsuccessful retaliatory defamation actions against sexual harassment and retaliation complainants.<\/p>\n Baldoni filed a $400 million defamation counterclaim<\/a>\u00a0against Lively last year in response to her underlying 2024 lawsuit, in which she accused him of sexual harassment on the set of the \u201cIt Ends With Us.\u201d He claimed Lively and her husband, fellow Hollywood A-lister Ryan Reynolds, conspired to \u201cdestroy\u201d him and \u201chijack\u201d the film\u2019s premiere with the accusations. But U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman, a Donald Trump appointee in the Southern District of New York,\u00a0fully dismissed the suit<\/a>\u00a0that summer.<\/p>\n \u201cThus, as the \u2018prevailing defendant,\u2019 Ms. Lively is entitled not just to attorneys\u2019 fees and costs but also to compensatory damages tripled and punitive damages,\u201d Lively argued in a court filing supporting her claims for damages.<\/p>\n During oral arguments Monday, Lively\u2019s attorney Michael Gottlieb said the provision functions similarly to other states\u2019 anti-SLAPP, or strategic lawsuit against public participation, laws \u201cto deter this specific kind of lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n Under the California code, Gottlieb said the burden to prove that the claimed defamatory statement was made with malice is shifted to Baldoni.<\/p>\n Gottlieb argued Baldoni\u2019s team has waived any challenge against pursuing attorneys\u2019 fees and compensatory damages through this mechanism.<\/p>\n Liman asked Lively\u2019s attorney: \u201cHow was she damaged? And what is the proof of that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is yet to be determined,\u201d Gottlieb responded.<\/p>\n Baldoni\u2019s counsel nonetheless insists Lively is not entitled to the punitive damages she seeks.<\/p>\n Baldoni\u2019s attorney Ellyn Garofalo called the motion \u201can end run around the jury trial that was eliminated by settlement in this case.\u201d<\/p>\n Pursuant to the terms of the civil settlement, Lively relinquished her right to appeal.<\/p>\n Neither Lively nor Baldoni attended Monday\u2019s in-person hearing on the post-judgment motion.<\/p>\n Liman reserved decision on the motion for post-judgment fees and costs.<\/p>\n Lively had accused Baldoni of sexual harassment during the production of the 2024 film, based on the 2016 novel by the same name about a young woman navigating an abusive relationship.<\/p>\n The trial in Manhattan federal court seeking more than $100 million in damages was expected to be a summer bombshell, with testimony from Lively, Baldoni and Reynolds.<\/p>\n Much of\u00a0her complaint was gutted<\/a>\u00a0ahead of trial in April, however, after a federal judge tossed 10 of 13 causes of action she levied against Baldoni, including sexual harassment, defamation and civil conspiracy.<\/p>\n Lively had accused Baldoni of improvising several kisses on-set and making unwelcome comments about her appearance. She also said Baldoni called her \u201csexy\u201d and commented on her cleavage.<\/p>\n In another instance, she claimed Baldoni announced to other individuals on the film set that she had never seen pornography \u2014 an admission she made to him after he opened up about having a porn addiction.<\/p>\n Baldoni vehemently denied the claims and attributed them to Lively looking to hijack the premiere of the film, which he directed and produced.<\/p>\n Lively went public with her claims against Baldoni via a 2024 interview with The New York Times. Following the story, she says Baldoni engaged in a relentless publicity smear campaign to discredit those accusations by defaming her, pointing specifically to several statements from Baldoni\u2019s lawyer Bryan Freedman, who rejected her claims in several interviews with the media.<\/p>\n Baldoni\u2019s side countered that Lively\u2019s claims were an attempt to hijack the premiere of the movie and destroy his reputation. He filed the $400 million extortion countersuit<\/a>\u00a0against Lively and Reynolds, but that was\u00a0dismissed last summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n The details of Lively\u2019s settlement with Baldoni\u2019s camp were not publicly disclosed, but she reportedly<\/a> did not receive any compensation under the private agreement.<\/p>\n \u201cIt Ends With Us,\u201d an adaptation of the 2016 Colleen Hoover novel of the same name, was released in August 2024, ultimately grossing more than $350 million worldwide.<\/p>\n