Ryan Reynolds has filed for a dismissal to have himself removed from Justin Baldoni‘s lawsuit in a scathing motion that says Baldoni cannot sue him over “hurt feelings.”
What did Ryan Reynolds say in his filing?
In a motion to dismiss filed this week (via Deadline), Reynold and his legal team said that Baldoni’s entire reason for suing Reynolds are based around two times where Reynolds allegedly called Baldoni a “predator,” as well as the appearance of “Nicepool” in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, a character that Baldoni claims was made and included to mock him.
“The entirety of Plaintiffs’ defamation claim appears to be based on two times that Mr. Reynolds allegedly called Mr. Baldoni a ‘predator,’” the motion reads, in part. “But, the FAC alleges no plausible facts that suggest Mr. Reynolds did not believe this comment to be true.”
Reynolds’ legal team, led by Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, continued to tear down Baldoni’s lawsuit, calling it nothing more of a “gossip rag” filled with “thin-skinned outrage” than an actual legal document. Although Reynolds’ motion doesn’t exactly deny Reynolds calling Baldoni a predator, it does say that even if that happened, it doesn’t constitute defamation if Reynolds actually believes it.
“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,” the motion states. “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.
“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. 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.”
Lively’s initial complaint alleges that Baldoni created a hostile work environment
All of this stems from a formal complaint that Lively made against Baldoni in December. In it, she states that things got so bad during the filming of It Ends With Us that an all-hands-on-deck meeting was called in response to her claims of a hostile work environment. During the meeting, Lively asked that Baldoni stop showing her nude videos or images of women, that he stop mentioning his pornography addiction to her, that Baldoni stop discussing sexual experiences in front of her, and that he also stop mentioning Lively’s weight.
The complaint also claims that an agreement was made between production company Wayfarer Studios and the cast in which the promotion of the movie would focus “more on [Lively’s character’s] strength and resilience as opposed to describing the film as a story about domestic violence.” However, Lively claims that Baldoni would renege on that and instead spoke in interviews about the film’s serious story.
Lively also claimed that Baldoni and his PR manager, Melissa Nathan, discussed ways to start a social media campaign to harm her reputation. The filing by Lively includes 22 pages of texts between Baldoni’s publicist and Nathan, in which they discuss wanting to have Lively “buried.”
