Blake Lively is not letting her latest legal battle with Justin Baldoni get in the way of a good time.
The Gossip Girl alum, 38, attended the 2026 World Cup final in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium with three of her friends on Sunday, July 19, sharing a glimpse of their sun-soaked day via her Instagram Stories.
Posing for a selfie just steps away from the pitch prior to the game commencing, Lively beamed for the camera while wearing jeans and a white T-shirt beneath a printed open shirt. She paired her summery ensemble with a chunky statement necklace and sunglasses.
While her husband, Ryan Reynolds, was not in the snap, the actor, 49, also showed his love for the sport at the FIFA World Cup’s Fanatics Fest over in Manhattan on Sunday, sharing photos from a panel appearance via his Instagram Stories that day. (Reynolds is the co-owner of the professional Welsh football club Wrexham A.F.C.)
Lively’s public outing comes days after Baldoni, 42, announced via his lawyers that he is fighting the actress’ request for him to pay approximately $8 million in legal fees following their recent settlement after a 17-month legal battle sparked by Lively’s sexual harassment complaint against him in December 2024.
Baldoni, who directed and starred alongside Lively in It Ends With Us, vehemently denied Lively’s accusations, which also included him orchestrating an alleged smear campaign against her, and countersued — though his lawsuit was thrown out of court in June 2025.
Blake Lively’s Instagram Story Courtesy of Blake Lively/Instagram
One month after the pair’s May settlement, which was announced just weeks ahead of a scheduled trial, Lively requested that Baldoni be held responsible for $8,035,040.88 in her attorneys’ fees and other costs.
In a court filing obtained by Us on July 13, Baldoni’s lawyers Ellyn S. Garofalo and Bryan Freedman argued that Lively’s motion should be denied. “Lively fails to meet her burden to present credible evidence showing that the fees and costs she seeks to recover are reasonable and, accordingly, her fee motion should be denied in its entirety,” the pair stated in the filing.
Blake Lively Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Fendi
The legal representatives also compared Lively’s request to that of the New York Times seeking $181,622.70 in attorneys’ fees “to dismiss precisely the same defamation claim,” referring to Baldoni’s defamation case against the newspaper. (Baldoni had unsuccessfully sued the outlet for $250 million over accusations that he engaged in a smear campaign against Lively.)
Earlier this month, Baldoni and his wife, Emily, broke their silence over his legal battle with Lively, taking to Instagram to share a joint video. “We have not done this in a while, so we have not spoken publicly for the better part of the last two years and it’s not because we haven’t had anything to say,” Baldoni said in the July 8 clip before Emily, 41, jumped in. “There is so much to say and it makes it hard to speak, it makes it hard to figure out what is right for us for this specific moment. But what does feel important is that we can genuinely say that we are sitting here today feeling immense gratitude for so many things and so many people and so many people that have happened to us.”
