Ryan Reynolds was way more than simply “a supportive spouse” throughout Blake Vigorous’s on-set conflicts with Justin Baldoni, the lawyer for the beleaguered “It Ends With Us” director and co-star mentioned in an announcement Wednesday.
Reynolds was a “key player” in his spouse’s “scheme” to destroy Baldoni’s fame, utilizing his “enormous power” within the film business to defame the much less well-known actor round Hollywood and to “strong-arm” his agent into dropping him as a consumer, mentioned Bryan Freedman Wednesday in an announcement launched to TMZ.
The lawyer was responding to Reynolds’ efforts to be dismissed as a defendant from Baldoni’s lawsuit in opposition to his spouse.
“Mr. Reynolds’ exploitation of his monumental energy in Hollywood continues, this time arrogantly asking to be dismissed from the case regardless of his publicly documented involvement extending far past simply being a ‘supportive spouse,’” Freedman said in the statement.
On Tuesday, the “Deadpool” star and his attorneys asked a court to dismiss Baldoni’s authorized claims in opposition to him, saying that he did nothing greater than act as a “supportive spouse” when his spouse alleged that she was being sexually harassed by Baldoni through the making of the 2024 movie.
As for allegations that Reynolds referred to Baldwin as a “sexual predator,” in conversations with Baldoni’s company, WME, Reynolds mentioned that he was sharing his personal “genuine” perception about Baldoni, provided that the director’s conduct was “reflective of a ‘predator,’” according to his court motion. Reynolds said that sharing a belief that someone is a “predator” is “constitutionally protected opinion.”
In the motion, Reynolds and his attorneys did not deny that he used Baldoni to create his “Nicepool” character, who appeared in a cameo in his summer blockbuster film “Deadpool & Wolverine.” Reynolds was accused by Baldoni of using “Nicepool” to satirize his “woke feminist” image and to further damage his reputation.
But Reynolds’ attorneys responded that Baldoni was expressing “thin-skinned outrage” by complaining about being mocked. Baldoni “may not appreciate being called” a predator or being mocked by the “Nicepool” character, the attorneys mentioned, however these “hurt feelings” don’t give rise to authorized claims.
Baldoni and Vigorous co-starred in “It Ends With Us,” taking part in lovers whose relationship is destroyed by the male companion’s bodily violent conduct. Baldoni additionally directed and produced the movie, having spent a number of years creating the property after securing the rights to Colleen Hoover’s in style novel.
When the movie debuted in August 2024, Vigorous was the topic of fierce on-line criticism over her obvious disregard of the movie’s critical material whereas selling it. In late 2024, Vigorous revealed to the New York Occasions and in a civil rights criticism that Baldoni had subjected her to sexually inappropriate conduct through the movie’s manufacturing. She additionally alleged that he, his producing companion at Wayfarer Studios and his publicists orchestrated the destructive media in opposition to her through the movie’s launch to retaliate in opposition to her coming ahead in regards to the sexual harassment.
Baldoni and Vigorous at the moment are engaged in back-and-forth lawsuits, with Baldoni additionally alleging that Reynolds assist Vigorous take management from him over the movie’s writing and enhancing.
Freedman, Baldoni’s lawyer, mentioned Wednesday: “Mr. Reynolds was a key player in the scheme, defaming Justin around Hollywood, strong-arming WME into dropping Justin as a client, and trying to destroy Justin’s career however possible.”
Freedman mentioned that Reynolds’ efforts to be dismissed as a defendant in Baldoni’s lawsuit is laughable as a result of “his fingerprints have been all over this smear campaign against Justin and the Wayfarer team since day one,” based on TMZ.
“After lighting a match, Mr. Reynolds now seeks to run from the flames,” Freedman continued. “It won’t work. The Wayfarer Parties’ claims against him are real, and they are serious. … We will not stop until he is held accountable for his actions.”
