Justin Baldoni is clapping back hard at Ryan Reynolds‘ attempt to get out of the Blake Lively legal scandal!
Last month, the Deadpool star filed a motion to dismiss, arguing Justin had no real case against him but “simply a list of grievances attempting to shame him 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.” For example, among many of his points, Ryan’s legal team argued allegations the performer called Justin a “predator” cannot be defamation because Ryan was stating an opinion he truly believed.
Related: Blake Called Out For ‘Disgusting’ Improvised Act With A Simple Favor Co-Star
The It Ends With Us director’s lawyer already blasted the filing, and now they’re firing back again! In response to the motion to dismiss filed on Tuesday, the Jane the Virgin star opened up his argument in an iconic way — using Ryan’s words against him!
He included a quote Free Guy lead told The Guardian in July 2024:
“‘I’ve realized I’m too big to fail at this point, so I just crush my enemies and drink their blood.’ — Ryan Reynolds, July 12, 2024”
Damn!
Ryan said that in London during a press conference ahead of the premiere of the new Marvel film. It came as a joke while he was complimenting Hugh Jackman‘s work ethic and “kind and grounded” attitude on set, something he first witnessed in 2007. He said in full:
“[Hugh was] not only great, but kind and grounded and understood the mission of unity on that set and knew everybody’s name. And I remember thinking to myself: if I am ever lucky enough to be in his position, I hope I’m just one 10th of that man.”
He quipped:
“And now that I’m so much bigger than him, I’ve taken many of those lessons. I’ve realized that I’m too big to fail at this point, so I just crush my enemies and drink their blood.”
It was clearly a joke at the time, but now Justin’s using it to his advantage! Oof! Just shows how savage this legal dispute has gotten — cause, remember, Ryan did the same thing by using Justin’s out-of-context quotes in his motion to dismiss! Just fighting fire with fire.
No shocker, but the document goes on to point out all the reasons Ryan should NOT be let off the hook, insisting he was not merely acting “as a supportive spouse” but that they can provide “ample” alleged “facts to support the Wayfarer Parties‘ claims against him, based on both his direct actions and his liability as a co-conspirator.”
One of those pieces of evidence?? That Ryan was actively trying to stop Justin from attending the It Ends With Us film premiere! The filmmaker hit back at The Proposal star’s attempt to frame his “predator” comments as merely an “opinion” and not defamation, insisting that “context also matters.”
We already know Ryan’s been accused of calling Justin a “predator” to an unnamed WME exec at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere on July 22, 2024, something that allegedly got Justin fired. But now the actor is adding another allegation — that Ryan called Baldoni’s former agent Danny Greenberg on July 15, 2024, and “referred to Justin as a ‘deranged predator’ and warned Greenberg that Baldoni should not attend the Film’s [It Ends With Us] premiere the next month because ‘no one wants him there.'” So, it allegedly wasn’t just Blake trying to shun him!
The attorneys also allege that Ryan’s company Maximum Effort was hired to market IEWU and that Ryan had a duty not to disparage or harm the film in any way. So, they’re really trying to show he was actively involved in the alleged smear campaign against him!
Sassily, they also argue that “Reynolds must have ‘confused the rules of pleading with the rules of evidence,'” essentially pointing out that there’s a difference between what is needed in a pleading of defamation vs. what is needed to prove the claim at trial, meaning Justin doesn’t have to provide all his evidence at this point in time. And elsewhere, the lawyers point out several other defamation cases pertaining to statements about a “sexual predator” in which the motions to dismiss failed!
Interestingly, Justin did not mention the Nicepool controversy at all in the response, despite Ryan bringing it up in his own filing. Hmm.
This is just several of the points the team makes. They’re using everything they’ve got to stop this motion to dismiss from going through! Hear more on the latest filing (below):
@stephwithdadeets Wayfarer Response to Ryan Reynolds’s Motion to Dismiss Explained. Solid Response ???????? #blakelively #justinbaldoni #lawsuit #itendswithus #ryanreynolds #greenscreen
????WAYFARERS RESPONSE TO RYAN REYNOLDS MOTION TO DISMISS ????
????
1. I'm not attaching the entire document because it's a lot and it's the middle of the night for me but I'll add some highlighted pages I thought were interesting.
I'm also skipping over the false light claims… pic.twitter.com/0CXf4RO4V5
— Leanne Newton (@kiarajade2001) April 2, 2025
Who do U think will be successful? Tell us (below)!
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