NEW YORK—Blake Lively won a partial victory in her contentious litigation against fellow actor Justin Baldoni, as a federal judge on Friday awarded her legal fees but denied additional damages in defending against Baldoni’s previously dismissed defamation lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan ruled after Lively settled her lawsuit accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation in connection with their 2024 movie “It Ends With Us,” where both starred and Baldoni directed.
While Lively received no compensation from the settlement, she was allowed to seek fees and damages under a 2023 California law designed to protect sexual harassment accusers from retaliatory defamation lawsuits by their alleged perpetrators….