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Ryan Reynolds is arguing Justin Baldoni’s defamation and extortion suit against him has no legs, alleging the actor’s ‘clickbait’ falsehoods stem from ‘hurt feelings’.
On Tuesday (March 18), attorneys of 48-year-old Reynolds filed a memorandum of law in federal court, requesting to dismiss legal claims brought against him by Baldoni, 41, and his production company, Wayfarer Studios.
The Ends with Us star, who acted alongside and directed Reynolds' wife Blake Lively, 37, submitted a countersuit against the pair on January 16, 2025.
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This filing came less than a month after Lively’s original legal complaint was filed on December 20, where the mother-of-four alleged Baldoni behaved inappropriately on the set of the 2024 flick and set up a social media smear campaign against her.
In his $400 million counterclaim, Baldoni alleges Lively ‘hijacked’ It Ends with Us and launched her own ‘calculated and vitriolic smear campaign’ to destroy his career.
The Jane the Virgin actor also claimed Reynolds berated him for allegedly ‘fat-shaming’ Lively, pressured his agency WME to drop him as a client, and called him a ‘sexual predator’.
In the new motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Reynolds’ lawyers argued that the Deadpool actor could not have ‘defamed’ Baldoni if he genuinely believed he is a ‘predator'.
“Allegations suggest that Mr. Reynolds genuinely, perhaps passionately, believes that Mr. Baldoni’s behavior is reflective of a ‘predator,'” the newly-filed motion states, as per Variety.
“(T)he law establishes that calling someone a ‘predator’ amounts to constitutionally protected opinion… While Mr. Baldoni ‘may not appreciate being called’ a predator, those hurt feelings do not give rise to legal claims.”
The motion continues, claiming Reynolds has 'First Amendment right to hold Mr. Baldoni — or any man who Mr. Reynolds believes sexually harassed his wife — in "deep disdain"'.
After calling the countersuit a ‘burn book filled with grievances’, the lawyers remarked that Baldoni had previously confessed to ‘repeatedly mistreating women’.
“It would be perverse to permit Mr. Baldoni to build an entire brand — complete with a podcast, Ted Talk, and books — off of his confessions of repeatedly mistreating women, only to turn around and sue Mr. Reynolds for $400 million for simply pointing out in private what Mr. Baldoni has bragged about in public,” the motion argues.
The dismissal filing also discussed Baldoni’s bullying accusations.
It’s alleged that Reynolds' Nicepool character, featured in Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine, was created as a satire of Baldoni's ‘woke feminist’ image, as per Variety.
While the inspiration behind Nicepool was not disputed, the court documents did allege that 'thin-skinned outrage over a movie character, the satirical ‘woke’ Nicepool, does not even pretend to be tied to any actual legal claims', according to TheWrap.
In a statement issued to Fox News, Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, representatives of Reynolds, said: “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.”
A spokesperson for Reynolds has since told UNILAD: "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 woman in his life.
"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.”
In response, Baldoni's representative Bryan Freedman told UNILAD: "Mr. Reynolds’ exploitation of his enormous power in Hollywood continues, this time arrogantly asking to be dismissed from the case despite his publicly documented involvement extending far beyond just being a 'supportive spouse'.
"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.
"His fingerprints have been all over this smear campaign against Justin and the Wayfarer team since day one," he continued.
"Mr. Reynolds now attempts to reduce plainly cognizable claims to 'hurt feelings', sending a clear message that bullying is acceptable.
"After lighting a match, Mr. Reynolds now seeks to run from the flames. It won’t work.
"The Wayfarer Parties’ claims against him are real, and they are serious. Mr. Reynolds can appear on as many sketch shows as he wants and feebly try to make light of his current situation, but we will not stop until he is held accountable for his actions."
Topics: Blake Lively, Celebrity, Court, Entertainment, Justin Baldoni, Ryan Reynolds, US News
Ella Scott