Blake Lively is dragging Justin Baldoni into court again, weeks after they settled their explosive legal battle.
Judge Louis Lehman on Monday ordered the “It Ends with Us” co-stars to return to a Manhattan courthouse to address damages related to Baldoni’s dismissed $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively, according to court documents obtained by Page Six.
Lively, 38, is asking Baldoni, 42, to pay her legal fees and expenses in the defamation suit, according to the lawsuit filing.
The “Gossip Girl” actress is also seeking triple damages and punitive damages.
It’s unclear how much money Lively wants from Baldoni in total.
Page Six has reached out to representatives for Lively and Baldoni for comment.
Lively and Baldoni were scheduled to appear in court on May 18 before reaching a settlement agreement on May 4 after a judge dismissed 10 of the actress’s 13 claims in the 2023 case, including collusion, sexual harassment and defamation.
The “A Simple Favor” actress filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni, who also directed “It Ends with Us,” in December 2024.
Baldoni denied Lively’s claims and the following month filed a $400 million countersuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and publicist Leslie Sloan, alleging defamation and extortion.
However, Baldoni’s lawsuit was dismissed in June 2025.
At the time, Judge Lehman wrote that Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, “do not allege that Lively is responsible for any statements made outside of her privileged[California Department of Civil Rights]complaint.”
Last month, Mr. Lively and Mr. Baldoni claimed victory when the former’s lawsuit against Mr. Baldoni was settled.
Brian Friedman, Baldoni’s attorney, called the settlement a “huge victory” in an interview with TMZ Live. Lively also claimed that she settled the case because she was “scared” to testify at trial.
“It was an unbelievable opportunity. I don’t think I could let an unbelievable opportunity pass me by,” he told the outlet.
Following Friedman’s remarks, Lively’s team called the settlement a “huge victory” for the mother of four.
“By acknowledging that Ms. Lively’s concerns were ‘worthy of being heard,’ defendants put an end once and for all to the fiction that Ms. Lively had ‘fabricated’ her claims of sexual harassment and retaliation,” she told Page Six last Thursday.
Page Six has learned that even though Lively and Baldoni spent a total of $60 million during their 18-month legal battle, not a dime went into the agreed-upon settlement.
