Ryan Reynolds has reportedly filed a motion to dismiss Justin Baldoni‘s defamation lawsuit against him and Blake Lively.
As per documents obtained by Us Weekly, the Deadpool actor’s legal team is seeking to dismiss the lawsuit by arguing that the statements made by Reynolds were not defamatory.
“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,” attorneys Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson told the publication via a statement.
“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.”
In the statement, the attorneys claim that Reynolds has a first amendment right — colloquially known as freedom of speech — to share his opinion of Baldoni.
“Mr. Reynolds’ wife has accused Mr. Baldoni — privately and in multiple complaints — of sexual harassment and retaliation, and as pointed out by Mr. Reynolds’ motion, Mr. Baldoni has also openly spoken about his past of mistreating women and pushing the boundaries of consent,” the statement continued.
“Mr. Reynolds has a First Amendment right to express his opinion of Mr. Baldoni, which should be comforting to a group of people who have repeatedly called Ms. Lively and Mr. Reynolds ‘bullies’ and other names over the past year.”
Along with the statement made by Reynold’s attorneys, his spokesperson had more to add — and boy, is it spicy.
“The claims filed against Mr. Reynolds are simply a list of grievances attempting to shame Mr. Reynolds for being the man Mr. Baldoni has built his brand pretending to be, a man who is ‘confident enough to listen’ to the woman in his life,” the spokesperson said.
“We look forward to this lawsuit being dismissed.”
The legal squabble between Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and Justin Baldoni has been ongoing since December 2024. It kicked off when Lively filed her own legal complaint on December 20, 2024, alleging that Baldoni acted inappropriately on the set of It Ends With Us, causing her “grief, fear, trauma and extreme anxiety”. Her lawsuit also accuses Baldoni of sexual harassment and claimed that Baldoni, Heath, Abel and Nathan created a smear campaign to hurt her reputation.
The lawsuit was accompanied by a report by The New York Times, which Baldoni previously filed a $400 million USD ($628.5 million AUD) defamation lawsuit against, accusing the publication, Lively and Reyonds of taking messages out of context to paint him in a negative light.
The trial between Lively and Baldoni is set to begin next year on March 9, 2026.
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