Ryan Reynolds ‘nice guy’ reputation is now being called into question as he is embroiled in a major legal struggle following Justin Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit against him and his wife Blake Lively.
He seemed unable to make a mistake with his sharp sense of humour, idyllic family life, and unquestionable magnetism both on and off film.
Following Blake’s lawsuit against Baldoni in December for allegedly sexually harassing him and fostering a hostile work environment on the set of It Ends With Us, director Justin has accused the pair of attempting to “destroy” him with unfounded accusations.
When Blake’s accusations—accompanied by shocking proof—were published in The New York Times at the time, Justin filed a $250 million libel action against the newspaper, alleging that they had selectively used texts and other pieces of evidence to distort the facts.
The director is now seeking at least $400m for damages, including lost future income.
The complaint says, submitted to the Southern District of New York court and reported by E! news, “This is a case about two of the most powerful stars in the world deploying their enormous power to steal an entire film right out of the hands of its director and production studio. Then, when Lively and Reynolds’ efforts failed to win them the acclaim they believed they so richly deserved, they turned their fury on their chosen scapegoat.”
Although the countersuit mostly focusses on accusations made against the actress, Blake’s legal team has called it “another chapter in the abuser playbook.” However, the 41-year-old has also made a number of shocking claims regarding Ryan.
After Blake, 37, disclosed that she felt “fat-shamed” by Justin, he accused the Deadpool actor of “swearing” at him. He claims it is “entirely and categorically false” that he asked him how much she weighed while getting ready for a scene in which he lifts her.
Ryan was “aggressive” towards Justin, according to Justin, who said, “How dare you f***ing ask about my wife’s weight?” What’s the matter with you?”
In yet another shocking allegation, Justin claims that Ryan “berated” him in front of executives during a meeting at the couple’s penthouse in New York and that he had “never been spoken to like that in his life.”
The lawsuit reads, “Reynolds and Lively blindsided the rest of the group with a list of grievances, read aloud by Lively, that were as troubling as they were fictional. Reynolds then launched into an aggressive tirade, berating Baldoni in what Baldoni later described as a “traumatic” encounter. As Baldoni later said, he had never been spoken to like that in his life.”
Ryan is also accused of trying to get Justin dropped from his talent agency. It’s claimed, “Baldoni later received word that, during the premiere of his movie Deadpool & Wolverine, Reynolds approached Baldoni’s agency, namely, an executive at WME, and expressed his deep disdain for Baldoni, suggesting the agency was working with a “sexual predator” (a phrase that uncoincidentally later appeared in the press) and, at a later date, demanded that the agent “drop” Baldoni.”
The statement added that Justin and his studio, Wayfarer, were ‘trying to shift the narrative to Ms Lively by falsely claiming that she seized creative control and alienated the cast from Mr Baldoni.”
It continued, “The evidence will show that the cast and others had their own negative experiences with Mr Baldoni and Wayfarer. The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, it does not refute the evidence in Ms Lively’s complaint, and it will fail.”
Additionally, after all the fiasco, as per Closer magazine Ryan is naturally worried about how the accusations can damage his reputation in light of the most recent development in the acrimonious relationship.
“Ryan is worried to death about this fall out between him, Blake and Justin,” the outlet reported.
“When this drama first started it was a series of small things that Blake didn’t like happening on set. She wanted a bit more influence on things, she wasn’t happy with her script, and she spoke to Justin about all of that. Rather than tell Blake to take a hike, he took her notes and let her make minor changes. The problem was she wanted more and more and more and then decided to rewrite entire parts of the film with the help of Ryan.”
The source added, “Ryan has worked hard to cultivate a public persona of being the ultimate nice guy. but now he’s feeling worried.”
