Justin Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman has claimed that a Ryan Reynolds joke cut from Deadpool & Wolverine mocked the actor.
Baldoni has sued Reynolds, his wife Blake Lively, and her publicist in a massive £325 million suit, which comes after Lively filed her own suit accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and organising an alleged ‘smear campaign’ against her in December 2024, along with numerous other claims.
Baldoni has filed a suit back, with accusations ranging from professional damages to defamation to extortion.
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Both actors' legal parties have denied the accusations presented in both lawsuits, with Baldoni's reps calling the allegations 'categorically false', while Lively's legal team claiming it is 'another chapter in the abuser playbook'.
Amongst the accusations is that a character in Reynold's recent Marvel film, Deadpool & Wolverine, is intentionally mocking of Baldoni.
Baldoni’s lawyer was revealed to have sent a legal hold letter addressed to Bob Iger, Disney’s CEO, and Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, in which they demanded the preservation of certain documents related to the creation of one character in the film.
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The character in question is ‘Nicepool’ an alternate version of Deadpool (also played by Reynolds) that is the quintessential Canadian on first appearance, kind and full of pleasantries.
Also appearing in the film is Lively, who voices the character ‘Lady Deadpool’, another alternate female version of Deadpool.
There is one joke that made it into the film and one reportedly cut from the movie, which have become the source of contention between Baldoni and Reynolds for Deadpool & Wolverine.
In a scene that made it into the film, Nicepool points to the fact that she has recently given birth, though she’s so beautiful that ‘you can’t even tell’.
When queried by Deadpool, Nicepool responds by saying: “That’s OK. I identify as a feminist.”
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In another scene in the film which was reportedly cut, The Hollywood Reporter (THR) reports, Nicepool states his ‘calling is to one day start a podcast that monetizes the women’s movement’.
Lively’s lawsuit alleges that Baldoni would make unwanted comments about her body, and he also started a podcast called ‘The Man Enough Podcast’ which explored men’s role in society.
Though the development of the character of Nicepool was developed prior to Lively's alleged problems on set of It Ends with Us, sources close to the film claimed to THR that the filming for the character was done post-strikes.
This is after an alleged feud had developed between Baldoni and Lively over Lively’s accusations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour on the set of It Ends with Us, Freedman claimed.
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The twisting situation between the two parties shows no sign of slowing down, with Baldoni’s lawyer releasing raw footage this week of his client and Lively dancing together in a scene from the controversial film.
Baldoni, who also directed It Ends with Us as well as starring alongside Lively, was accused of being inappropriate in the filming of the scene.
A statement from Baldoni’s lawyer played before the video, saying: “The following videos captured on May 23, 2023 clearly refute Ms. Lively’s characterisation of his behaviour.
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“The scene in question was designed to show the two characters falling in love and longing to be close to one another.
“Both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism.”
Lively’s team responded saying: “Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt will get ahead of the damaging evidence against him, but the video itself is damning.
“The video shows Mr Baldoni repeatedly leaning in toward Ms Lively, attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, flicking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her out of character.
"Every frame of the released footage corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Lively described in Paragraph 48 of her Complaint.
“Every moment of this was improvised by Mr Baldoni with no discussion or consent in advance and no intimacy coordinator present.
“Mr Baldoni was not only Ms Lively's co-star, but the director, the head of studio and Ms Lively's boss. Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognize Ms Lively's discomfort.”
According to reports, Lively has since issued a gag order following the release of the footage.
LADbible has contacted Ryan Reynold's reps for comment.
Topics: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Deadpool, Wolverine, Marvel, Deadpool & Wolverine
Michael Slavin