Justin Baldoni files legal letter to Disney and Marvel regarding Nicepool

Apparently, it doesn’t stop with them.

The fallout from Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s legal battle continues to expand, with Marvel chairman Kevin Feige, Disney CEO Bob Iger and director Tim Miller becoming the latest industry figures involved in the drama.

On Jan. 7, Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, sent a hold letter to Feige and Iger in connection with his client’s “anticipated claims” against Ryan Reynolds, Lively and other unnamed parties. Variety viewed a copy of the letter, which calls on the studio to preserve all relevant documents and data regarding Baldoni.

The move may come as a surprise given that “It Ends With Us,” the film at the center of the rift between Lively and Baldoni, was released by Sony and has nothing to do with Disney. But Baldoni’s lawyer believes Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, was blatantly mocking Baldoni in a sequence from the Marvel movie “Deadpool & Wolverine,” released by Disney in July. The footage shows Reynolds playing “Nicepool,” a wacky alternate version of the eponymous hero Deadpool, uttering lines such as “Where in God’s name is the intimacy coordinator?!” and praising Ladypool for ‘coming back’ into shape after giving birth.

Lively, who appeared as Ladypool, recently accused Baldoni of sexually harassing and humiliating her postpartum body on the set of “It Ends With Us.” When Deadpool points out Nicepool’s misogyny in the scene, Nicepool responds, “It’s okay, I identify as a feminist.” (During the development, production and marketing of “It Ends With Us,” a drama about domestic violence, Baldoni often touted her credentials as a feminist and ally to women.)

Marvel and Disney declined to comment, as did Reynolds and Lively’s attorney. Freedman could not be reached for comment. He is believed to be one of several industry figures whose homes were destroyed in the still-raging Pacific Palisades fire.

The litigation suspension letter, sent the day the fires began, calls on Marvel and Disney to preserve “all materials relating to the development of the ‘Nicepool’ character” as well as “communications relating to the development, writing and filming of the plots and scenes featuring “Nicepool”. the character from “Nicepool”.

Reynolds — who was a writer, producer and star of “Deadpool & Wolverine” — never addressed the existence of a connection between Nicepool and Baldoni, even though fans were speculating about it long before the current legal dispute between the parties which gave rise to three trials. to this day. On December 31, Baldoni and nine others sued the New York Times for $250 million over its article that relied heavily on a letter Lively filed with the California Department of Civil Rights, accusing the director of sexual harassment and to carry out an online retaliation campaign. The group accused the Times of using “cherry-picked and falsified communications that are “devoid of necessary context and deliberately assembled to mislead.” The complaint also claimed that Lively was the one who embarked on her own “strategic and manipulative” smear campaign and used false allegations “to assert unilateral control over all aspects of the production.”

During an appearance on “The Megyn Kelly Show” on Jan. 7, Freedman referenced Nicepool’s character. “There is no doubt that this concerns Justin. I mean, everyone who looked at that bun,” Freedman said. He also questioned why Reynolds would use his wife’s alleged sexual harassment as a subject for comedy. “If someone is seriously sexually harassed, we don’t make fun of it. This is a serious problem,” Freedman added.

The litigation suspension letter, which was written before “the expected claims relate to Reynolds and Lively’s tortious interference with contract and civil extortion,” goes well beyond Nicepool’s character and implies that a moat of Lively/Baldoni style exists between Reynolds and Miller, who directed the first “Deadpool” film but did not return for the sequel or “Deadpool & Wolverine.” (The director and star are known to have clashed.) The letter asks the studio to preserve all documents and data “pertaining to complaints filed against Ryan Reynolds by any person, including, but not limited to, Tim Miller.” and Miller’s departure from the film “Deadpool 2.” ” as well as any instances where Reynolds exercised “creative control over any film project.” (Miller did not respond to an immediate request for comment.)

A litigation hold letter often precedes litigation. Baldoni hasn’t sued Lively or Reynolds, but Freedman indicated a lawsuit was imminent, telling Kelly he planned to sue the Hollywood power couple “into oblivion.” Following the publication of the Times article, Baldoni was dropped by WME, the agency he shared with Lively and Reynolds. WME also represents Miller.

After Baldoni and a group that also included publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel sued the Times in Los Angeles Superior Court, Lively filed suit against the plaintiffs in federal court in a complaint that mirrored her letter CRD. And Baldoni’s former publicist, Stephanie Jones, sued him, Abel and Nathan. Jones claims that Baldoni broke his contract and that Nathan and Abel conspired to attack him. Lively’s lawyers confirmed that Jones’ company was the source of the text messages that appear in the actress’ CRD letter and in the Times article.

In “Deadpool & Wolverine”, Nicepool says of Ladypool: “She’s beautiful. She just had a baby too, and we can’t even tell. This would appear to mirror Lively’s allegation that Baldoni shamed her with similar comments after she gave birth to her fourth child. (Baldoni’s Times lawsuit claims he questioned their mutual trainer about his weight because of back problems that limited the number of pounds he could lift.)

In the end credits of “Deadpool & Wolverine”, the actor who plays Nicepool is listed as “Gordon Reynolds” and not Ryan Reynolds. In a strange twist, Lively thanked Gordon Reynolds in the end credits of “It Ends With Us,” drawing an apparent line to Nicepool. And in the July 22 Instagram post tagged @deadpoolmovie and @itendswithusmovie, Lively wrote “about nice men using feminism as a tool.”