Ryan Reynolds has filed a movement to dismiss Justin Baldoni’s $400 million defamation lawsuit in opposition to him stemming from the “It Ends With Us” director’s feud along with his spouse, Blake Vigorous.
Baldoni, 41, sued Reynolds, 48, and Vigorous, 37, in January following the actress’ personal authorized motion in opposition to the “Jane the Virgin” alum, during which she accused him of sexual harassment and orchestrating a public smear marketing campaign in opposition to her.
In his defamation swimsuit, Baldoni accused Reynolds of privately calling him a “sexual predator” and dealing to get his expertise company — WME — to drop him.
Nonetheless, Reynolds’ legal professionals, Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, advised The Put up on Tuesday that the “Deadpool & Wolverine” star couldn’t have defamed Baldoni as a result of “Mr. Reynolds genuinely believes Mr. Baldoni is a predator.”
“The entirety of Mr. Baldoni’s case appears to be based on Mr. Reynolds allegedly privately calling Mr. Baldoni a ‘predator,’ but here is the problem, that is not defamation unless they can show that Mr. Reynolds did not believe that statement to be true,” Gottlieb and Hudson stated.
“The complaint doesn’t allege that, and just the opposite, the allegations in the complaint suggest that Mr. Reynolds genuinely believes Mr. Baldoni is a predator,” the legal professionals continued. “Mr. Reynolds’ wife has accused Mr. Baldoni — privately and in multiple complaints — of sexual harassment and retaliation, and as pointed out by Mr. Reynolds’ motion, Mr. Baldoni has also openly spoken about his past of mistreating women and pushing the boundaries of consent.”
Gottlieb and Hudson added: “Mr. Reynolds has a First Amendment right to express his opinion of Mr. Baldoni, which should be comforting to a group of people who have repeatedly called Ms. Lively and Mr. Reynolds ‘bullies’ and other names over the past year.”
A spokesperson for Reynolds additionally blasted Baldoni and criticized his character, telling The Put up that the “Free Guy” star is the person Baldoni is “pretending to be.”
“The claims filed against Mr. Reynolds are simply a list of grievances attempting to shame Mr. Reynolds for being the man Mr. Baldoni has built his brand pretending to be, a man who is ‘confident enough to listen’ to the women in his life,” they stated.
“We look forward to this lawsuit being dismissed, and to collecting on Steve Sarowitz’s $100 million pledge by recovering Mr. Reynolds’ costs and attorneys’ fees incurred to toss this frivolous case,” the consultant added, referring to the billionaire businessman who helped fund Baldoni’s manufacturing firm, Wayfarer Studios, which produced “It Ends With Us.”
In Reynolds’ authorized submitting, his legal professionals insisted he shouldn’t be dragged into Baldoni’s authorized battle along with his spouse.
“So what does Ryan Reynolds have to do with that, legally speaking, other than being a supportive spouse who has witnessed firsthand the emotional, reputational, and financial devastation Ms. Lively has suffered? Nothing,” they wrote within the authorized submitting.
“Mr. Reynolds is a defendant in this action for one reason, and one reason only: because billionaire Plaintiff Steve Sarowitz promised to spend up to $100 million to ‘ruin’ Ms. Lively and Mr. Reynolds.”
Reynolds’ attorneys additionally alleged Baldoni’s and Sarowitz’s defamation swimsuit (aka First Modification Grievance or FAC) “seeks to fulfill that promise” by utilizing authorized filings to disseminate “hundreds of paragraphs of clickbait, designed for an audience other than this Court, with virtually no bearing on cognizable legal claims.”
They continued: “[T]he FAC is a pleading, not a gossip rag, and these so-called ‘receipts’ fail to establish the requisite elements of a single one of the many causes of action alleged against Mr. Reynolds.”
The “Definitely, Maybe” actor’s workforce additionally claimed Baldoni’s defamation swimsuit doesn’t clarify who was defamed, what particularly was stated or how anybody suffered precise hurt.
As for the $400 million in damages that Baldoni and his associates are searching for, attorneys for Reynolds wrote of their submitting that the “It Ends With Us” star doesn’t clarify “anything about who suffered that loss, in what proportion, as a result of which claims, or what proximately caused such losses.”
Baldoni’s lawsuit “is long on hyperbole, prose, and ‘claims,’ but devoid of any facts necessary to state ones recognized by law,” Reynolds’ legal professionals added.
“It is, in essence, a burn book filled with grievances attempting to shame Mr. Reynolds for being the kind of man who is ‘confident enough to listen’ to the woman in his life and to hold her ‘anguish and actually’ stand with her,” they wrote, quoting previous feedback made by Baldoni.
Representatives for Baldoni didn’t instantly reply to The Put up’s request for remark.
Vigorous sued Baldoni in December for $250 million, claiming he sexually harassed her whereas filming “It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel of the identical title. The “Gossip Girl” alum additionally accused Baldoni and his publicists of orchestrating a smear marketing campaign in opposition to her when she spoke out about his alleged misconduct.
Baldoni has denied her accusations and, alongside along with his publicists, filed a countersuit in opposition to Vigorous and Reynolds for defamation and extortion. The couple have repeatedly denied Baldoni’s allegations.
