Ryan Reynolds dragged deeper into Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni battle

After being dropped by WME and sued by Blake Lively for sexual harassment and an online smear campaign, Justin Baldoni has made it clear he never wants to work on a Disney project.

That’s certainly the tone and likely immediate impact of a Jan. 7 letter sent to CEO Bob Iger and Marvel boss Kevin Feige of It ends with us Co-star/director’s team demands Disney ‘preserve evidence’ linked to last year’s massive success Deadpool and Wolverine.

The correspondence was sent in anticipation of the “expected commencement of litigation against” the Merc with a Mouth himself Ryan Reynolds and Lively, it is said.

This isn’t the first time Reynolds has been mentioned in documents or conversations surrounding Lively and Baldoni’s increasingly bitter dispute over what happened during and after filming It ends with usthe domestic violence film based on Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel. Reynolds, the star lead, has made numerous appearances in almost every costume, but now, in a classic distraction tactic, he’s the star attraction.

Looking to grab everything related to Reynolds and Hugh Jackman starrers Deadpool and Wolverinewhich saw a masked appearance by Lively as Ladypool, the five-page correspondence from Baldoni’s pugilistic lawyer Bryan Freedman leaves no stone unturned, smartphone, contract, “Blackberry devices”, paperwork or floppy disk no returned.

Not a trial but certainly an indication of one to come, the letter drawn across the arc, a copy of which was obtained by Deadline, also throws a grenade into the situation already explosive and multi-trial.

Almost buried among the requests to Disney/Marvel on Baldoni’s side is a request for “all documents and communications relating to complaints of sexual or other harassment made against Ryan Reynolds by any person.”

WTF?

Although Lively cites numerous alleged instances of sexual harassment, body shaming and more from Baldoni during the 2023 production of It ends with us in her own lawsuit, there has been no indication of such behavior on the part of her successful husband – and this insinuating letter offers nothing to support such accusations. There is also hope of recruiting director Tim Miller, who helmed the first dead Pool film and reportedly had friction with Reynolds, in the ever-expanding Lively vs. Baldoni saga.

Clickbait aside, the real heart of the clearly not-so-nice letter concerns the character of Nicepool, the long-haired, deceptive, and empathetic version of Deadpool who appears about halfway through the superhero film, which has grossed $1.34 billion to date. the global box office.

Among the letter’s pointed requests to Iger (who is currently leading Disney’s response to the Los Angeles wildfires and losses suffered by hotel staff due to his own evacuation, I hear) and Feige , there are clear words about the nastiness Baldoni feels he was treated by Reynolds third dead Pool browse.

“I don’t think you can say that,” Reynolds’ Deadpool says to Reynolds’ Nicepool at one point in the film, after the latter notices that the “beautiful ‘Ladypool’ also just had a baby, and you can” I don’t even say it. Without an ounce of self-awareness, Nicepool quips, “It doesn’t matter, I identify as a feminist.” »

To this, the letter asks Disney to protect itself against a possible lawsuit:

“There’s no question that this is about Justin,” Freedman told his client and friend Megyn Kelly earlier this month. “I mean, anyone who looked at that bun – if someone is seriously sexually harassed, you don’t care. This is a serious problem.

Today, with most Hollywood business on hold because of the wildfires, which have left Freedman’s own home in ashes among thousands of others in the Palisades and elsewhere in Los Angeles County, there is no action No lawsuit has been filed against Lively or Reynolds by Baldoni, his public relations team of Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, or others named in Lively’s Dec. 20 complaint filed with the Department of Civil Rights of California, which brought this not-so-secret case. It ends with us surface tension.

Of course, Lively launched a formal sexual harassment and retaliation complaint against Baldoni, his Wayfarer Studios, Nathan, Abel and others on New Year’s Eve. That was the same day Baldoni and his gang went after At New York Times for $250 million with accusations that the Gray Lady chose seemingly derogatory text and more for the Joan the Virgin alumnus’ crisis PR team in a well-researched Dec. 21 article about Lively’s CRD case.

As a sideshow, there’s also the Christmas Eve defamation and breach of contract suit filed by Stephanie Jones, the director of Baldoni’s former public relations firm, in state court in New York against Baldoni, his Wayfarer Studios and publicists Nathan and Abel.

For the moment, no one is really talking about this latest missive. Freedman gets a pass due to his loss to the fires, and Lively’s team did not respond to request for comment on the letter to Disney when contacted by Deadline. The folks at Disney and Marvel were also nowhere to be found on this when we tried to contact them.

If representatives from Disney or Lively respond, this post will be updated.

In the meantime, be careful, the winds are expected to pick up again in the coming days – and play nice.

Variety was the first to break the news of the letter to Disney.