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Justin Baldoni and his legal team have denounced Ryan Reynolds' motion to dismiss the former's $400 million lawsuit against him, dubbing the Deadpool actor a "co-conspirator" along with his wife, Blake Lively. For context, Baldoni sued Reynolds, Lively, their publicist, Leslie Sloane, and her PR firm, Vision, for defamation in January 2025 after Lively accused him of s*xual harassment in a complaint filed in December 2024.
On March 18, 2025, Ryan Reynolds filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit against him, claiming he had nothing to do with the situation on the set of It Ends With Us and had only been a "supportive spouse" to his wife.
However, according to court documents filed on April 3, Baldoni's legal team argued that Ryan's motion to dismiss should be denied, claiming that the Deadpool actor:
“Pretends that the Wayfarer Parties’ First Amended Complaint (the ‘FAC’) fails to set forth any basis for his liability and that he merely acted as a supportive spouse. Not so. The FAC specifically alleges ample facts to support the Wayfarer Parties’ claims against him, based on both his direct actions and his liability as a co-conspirator.”
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In the "extremely unlikely event" that the lawsuit is dismissed, Baldoni's lawyers further argued that Ryan Reynolds should not be entitled to recover attorney's fees.
Following this, a spokesperson for Reynolds issued a statement to Us Weekly in response, stating:
“The main takeaway from the Wayfarer Parties’ opposition to Ryan’s motion to dismiss their case is that they finally realize the plain defects in their complaint. They once again claim defamation without alleging who was defamed, what specifically was said, or how anyone suffered actual harm."
The statement continued:
"Unlike Mr. Baldoni, who built his brand pretending to be a man who is ‘confident enough to listen’ to the women in his life, Ryan Reynolds actually is that man and he will continue to support his wife as she stands up to the individuals who not only harassed her but then have retaliated against her."
Exploring Justin Baldoni's accusations against Ryan Reynolds
The legal controversy surrounding It Ends With Us began after Blake Lively filed a complaint against her co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, in December 2024, accusing the actor of s*xual harassment and of launching a smear campaign against her during the movie's press run.
Following this, Baldoni filed a lawsuit against Lively and Reynolds for defamation in January 2025, accusing the couple of trying to "hijack" his movie.
He also accused Ryan Reynolds of reprimanding him at the couple's home, where Reynolds allegedly “swore at Baldoni and accused him of fat-shaming his wife.” According to CNN, the director claimed Reynolds mocked him in his latest movie, Deadpool & Wolverine, by basing the character Nicepool on Baldoni.
He further alleged that Ryan Reynolds coerced their shared talent agency, WME, into dropping him by accusing Baldoni of being a "s*xual predator." For context, Reynolds, Lively, and Baldoni were all signed to WME. However, the agency dropped Baldoni after Lively filed her complaint in December.
Ryan Reynolds claimed Justin Baldoni sued him and his wife over "hurt feelings"
In March, Ryan Reynolds filed a motion to dismiss the case, claiming that Justin Baldoni had no legal evidence to support his allegations and had filed the lawsuit because of "hurt feelings." The motion referenced Baldoni's claim that Reynolds mocked him in Deadpool & Wolverine, arguing that the director's “thin-skinned outrage over a movie character” did not “even pretend to be tied to any legal claims.”
The filing further stated that Baldoni's defamation lawsuit "does not identify a single allegedly defamatory statement” made by Ryan Reynolds. Following this, Reynolds' attorneys, Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, addressed the allegations that the Deadpool actor defamed Baldoni by calling him a "predator" in a statement to Us Weekly.
The lawyers claimed that Ryan Reynolds "genuinely believes" that Baldoni is a predator, therefore nullifying accusations of defamation.
“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 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.”
Following Ryan Reynolds' motion to dismiss, Justin Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, named Reynolds a "key player" in the alleged smear campaign against his client. In his statement, Freedman continued:
"[Reynolds'] fingerprints have been all over this smear campaign against Justin and the Wayfarer team since day one. Mr. Reynolds now attempts to reduce plainly cognizable claims to 'hurt feelings,' sending a clear message that bullying is acceptable."
Ryan Reynolds is not the only one who filed a motion to dismiss Baldoni's case. In February 2025, Leslie Sloane, the couple's publicist, also moved to dismiss the claims against her and her firm, claiming there was no factual evidence to tie her to Baldnoni's claim that Lively orchestrated a PR war against him.
The trial for Lively and Baldoni's case is scheduled for March 2026.
