Blake Lively sued her It Ends With Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, for sexual harassment. In turn, Baldoni sued Lively and her actor husband, Ryan Reynolds, for defamation, alleging that Reynolds accused him of being a “sexual predator” and used his fame to get the WME agency to drop him. Reynolds, however, has motioned to dismiss the suit.
In the motion, Reynolds’ attorney argued that Baldoni’s ‘hurt feelings’ are not sufficient grounds for a defamation suit. Baldoni, who believes that the character Nicepool in Deadpool & Wolverine was a critique of his ‘woke feminist’ persona, has been at the center of the dispute. Reynolds did not deny the speculation but called Baldoni’s legal actions ‘thin-skinned outrage’.
Regarding the term ‘predator’, the motion suggests that Reynolds’ comments reflected his “unabashed negative opinion” of Baldoni’s character rather than defamation. The attorney pointed out that Reynolds, as a husband, was entitled to express his belief that Baldoni’s behavior was predatory.
Reynolds’ legal team further argued that he has a First Amendment right to criticize Baldoni, particularly in defense of his wife. They dismissed Baldoni’s defamation suit as nothing more than a ‘burn book filled with grievances’. The motion also argued it would be unreasonable for Baldoni, who has built a public brand around his alleged mistreatment of women, to sue Reynolds for simply voicing his concerns based on what Baldoni himself has publicly boasted about.