Looks like Justin Baldoni might be ready to go to war with Marvel and Disney over a joke Ryan Reynolds made in “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
But Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman might also go after Reynolds, who is Lively’s husband, for the way Reynolds made fun of his client.
According to Variety, on January 7, Freedman sent a litigation holds letter to Marvel and Disney bigwigs Kevin Feige and Bob Iger about his client’s “anticipated claims” against Reynolds, Lively parties and other anonymous parties.
Considering that “It Ends With Us” was made by Sony and not Disney or Marvel, the legal request may seem odd, but Freedman is apparently focused on finding the details behind a deleted but resurfaced scene from “D&W.” which, according to him, is mocking. Baldoni.
The scene shows Reynolds as both his Deadpool character and “Nicepool”, an alternate universe variant who wears a bun, a hairstyle associated with Baldoni until last year.
Reynolds is one of the credited screenwriters, and at one point Nicepool says to Deadpool: “I would fight alongside you, but my calling is to one day start a podcast that monetizes the women’s movement,” a possible reference to Baldoni’s “Man Enough” podcast.
Freedman’s letter calls on both Marvel and Disney to preserve all relevant documents and data related to Baldoni, as well as “all materials relating to the development of the ‘Nicepool’ character” as well as “communications relating to the development, “writing and filming scripts and scenes featuring ‘Nicepool,'” reports Variety.
The letters also demand that Disney and Marvel “preserve all materials relating to or reflecting a deliberate attempt to mock, harass, ridicule, intimidate or bully Baldoni through the character of ‘Nicepool.’
Although Freedman did not comment directly on the letter to Variety, he told Megyn Kelly last week that Nicepool’s “bun” means there is “no doubt that (the scene) relates to Justin “.
However, he told Kelly that Reynolds’ joke against Baldoni could backfire when the time comes to defend their actions against his client.
“If your wife is sexually harassed, you don’t make fun of Justin Baldoni. You are not making fun of the situation. You take this very seriously,” Freedman said. “You file HR complaints, you raise the issue and you follow a legal process. What you shouldn’t do is make fun of the person and make a joke of it.
The lawyer added: “Again, if someone is seriously sexually harassed, we don’t make fun of it. This is a serious problem.
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Variety notes that the ending of “D&W” indicates that the role of Nicepool goes to “Gordon Reynolds,” and points out that Lively thanked a person of the same name in the end credits of “It Ends With Us”.
