Actor Ryan Reynolds has been roped into his wife Blake Lively’s legal feud with her “It Ends With Us” co-star Justin Baldoni, as Baldoni’s lawyer has threatened to sue both Reynolds and Lively and accused him of mocking Baldoni in a movie Reynolds starred in last year.
Key Facts
- Lawyers representing Baldoni sent a letter last week to Disney CEO Bob Iger and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, which Baldoni’s PR representative Melissa Nathan shared with Forbes, requesting they preserve “any and all documents” relating to a scene in “Deadpool & Wolverine” (2024) in which Baldoni alleges Reynolds mocked him.
- The letter also suggested Baldoni is considering legal action against both Reynolds and Lively (Reynolds has not responded to the claims).
- In the scene Baldoni’s letter references, Reynolds portrays a variant of Deadpool named “Nicepool” and reportedly makes jokes about intimacy coordinators and a woman “snapping back” into shape after giving birth.
- The jokes appear to mirror allegations Lively made about Baldoni in a lawsuit weeks ago: Lively alleged the “It Ends With Us” production initially ignored union guidance to use intimacy coordinators and claimed Baldoni told her personal trainer he wanted her to lose weight within “two weeks,” less than four months after giving birth (Baldoni pushed back on these allegations in his own lawsuit against The New York Times over its coverage of the feud).
- Baldoni has previously made allegations against Reynolds in court filings, including in his lawsuit against the Times, in which Baldoni refers to Reynolds and his wife as “untouchable” Hollywood elites and alleges Reynolds “aggressively berated” Baldoni for allegedly “fat shaming” Lively.
- Forbes has reached out to lawyers representing Baldoni, as well as representatives for Reynolds, for comment.
How has Reynolds responded to these claims?
Reynolds has not directly responded to Baldoni’s allegations. In Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni, she claims Reynolds was also victim of a smear campaign and has been affected “mentally, physically, and professionally by his wife’s and children’s pain.” Lively’s lawyers have defended her lawsuit against Baldoni in statements to the media, reiterating the suit contains “serious claims of sexual harassment and retaliation, backed by concrete facts,” and that the legal battle is not a “’he said/she said’ situation.”
What does Baldoni’s letter to Iger and Feige say?
The letter to the Marvel and Disney executives, written by Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman, asks Marvel to preserve documents and communications relevant to Baldoni, Reynolds and “Deadpool & Wolverine.” It specifically requests documents “relating to or reflecting a deliberate attempt to mock, harass, ridicule, intimidate, or bully Baldoni through the character of ‘Nicepool.’” The letter also requests “documents and communications relating to complaints of sexual or other harassment asserted against Ryan Reynolds by any person” (Reynolds has not been publicly accused of sexual harassment, and the letter provides no evidence of any instances of harassment).
Will Baldoni sue Reynolds and Lively?
Freedman states in the letter he anticipates the “commencement of litigation against Reynolds and Lively,” though no timeline or specific claims were noted. The lawyer has repeatedly floated a lawsuit against Lively, telling Megyn Kelly in an interview last week he would sue Lively “into oblivion,” but declined to provide specific claims. Freedman said, though, the lawsuit would allege Lively “bullied her way through the process to take over the movie and used her PR people to try and destroy” Baldoni.
What did Baldoni say about Reynolds in his lawsuit?
Baldoni’s lawsuit against the Times makes several allegations against Reynolds, which Reynolds has not responded to. The lawsuit claims Reynolds “aggressively berated Baldoni” during a meeting at Reynolds and Lively’s penthouse in New York in which Reynolds accused Baldoni of “fat shaming” Lively. Baldoni’s lawsuit says he had actually inquired about Lively’s weight to her personal trainer because he had back issues and had to lift her during a scene, claiming the trainer had told Lively about the request, who then told her husband, angering him. Baldoni’s suit also claims Reynolds approached Baldoni’s agent during the “Deadpool & Wolverine” premiere and demanded the agency drop Baldoni.
Did Reynolds rewrite scenes from “it Ends With Us?”
Lively told E! News in August Reynolds had written the film’s rooftop scene, stating both her and her husband frequently collaborate on one another’s projects. In his lawsuit against the Times, Baldoni claims he did not know Reynolds contributed to the script until Lively in that interview revealed his contribution, alleging Reynolds had made “unauthorized changes to the script in secret.”
What’s the latest in the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni legal battle?
Lively filed a lawsuit on Dec. 31 against Baldoni, his publicist and his Wayfarer Studios production company for sexual harassment, retaliation for reporting harassment and for allegedly orchestrating a smear campaign against her. The same day, Baldoni sued The New York Times over a story it had published on the alleged smear campaign, claiming it defamed him by accepting a “self-serving narrative” that Lively had been victim to his attacks. Lawyers representing both parties have made several comments to the media in the weeks since, with Freedman stating on multiple occasions he and Baldoni plan to sue both Lively and Reynolds. Freedman appeared on Kelly’s show last week, refuting Lively’s claims of sexual harassment and accusing her of not understanding and not reading the movie’s source novel. Last week, Stephanie Jones, Baldoni’s former publicist who previously sued him for defamation and breach of contract, reportedly subpoenaed tech companies including WhatsApp and Signal to discover who was behind social media posts that were critical of both actors.
This story was originally published on forbes.com.
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