Justin Baldoni Is Demanding Disney Hold Onto Documents to Support His Claims Ryan Reynolds Used Nicepool to 'Bully' Him

Mar. 15, 2025

Ryan Reynolds; Ryan Reynolds as Nicepool in “Deadpool & Wolverine”; Justin Baldoni.Photo:Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty;Disney/Marvel; Araya Doheny/Variety/Getty

Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty;Disney/Marvel; Araya Doheny/Variety/Getty

Justin Baldoniis seeking to gain communications made aboutRyan Reynolds' Nicepool character in an attempt to show it was used to “bully” him.

As theIt Ends With Usdirector-actor’s legal battle responding to costarBlake Lively’s sexual harassment and retaliation claims advances, Baldoni’s lawyers sent a litigation hold letter on Jan. 7 to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and Disney CEO Bob Iger, demanding they hold onto documents that mention Baldoni for potential use in court.

To support his claim, Baldoni’s legal team is looking for documents “relating to or reflecting a deliberate attempt to mock, harass, ridicule, intimidate or bully Baldoni through the character of Nicepool,” among other subjects.

Lively, 37, has sued Baldoni, 40, accusing him of sexual harassment and plotting a smear campaign in retaliation to coming forward about misconduct. Among other claims, Lively alleges in her complaint that Baldoni found “back-channel ways of criticizing her body and weight” after she’d recently given birth to her fourth child.

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds; Justin Baldoni.Taylor Hill/WireImage; John Nacion/Variety via Getty

Taylor Hill/WireImage; John Nacion/Variety via Getty

Additionally, a purported deleted scenes making the rounds on social media shows theNicepool character saying that his “calling is to one day starta podcast that monetizes the women’s movement.” Baldoni hosted a podcast calledMan Enoughsince 2021 that discussed “modern masculinity.” Hisco-host Liz Plank left the podcast after Lively’s complaintcame to light.

Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman spoke to Megyn Kelly, one of his former clients, onher web showearlier in January and claimed “there’s no question” Nicepool “relates to Justin.”

Baldoni has denied Lively’s claims. Freedman has saidBaldoni plans to sue Lively and others soon, and he already filed a $250 million lawsuit againstThe New York Timesover its coverage of Lively’s complaint in December.

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds on Aug. 6, 2024.John Nacion/Variety via Getty

John Nacion/Variety via Getty

In his complaint, Baldoni allegedthatLively tried to take control ofIt Ends With Usand thatReynolds, 48, berated him in a meetingheld at their New York City apartment.

Lively’s lawyers have said “nothing” aboutBaldoni’s lawsuit “changes anything” about her claims, which include accusations that Baldoni and another producer entered her trailer “uninvited” while she was undressed or “vulnerable,” and that Baldoni “improvised physical intimacy that had not been rehearsed, choreographed or discussed with Ms. Lively, with no intimacy coordinator involved."

Her lawyers added in a Jan. 6 statement that thesituation is “not a ‘feud’ arising from ‘creative differences’ or a ‘he said/she said’ situation.”

Blake Lively on Aug. 8, 2024.Jeff Spicer/Getty

Jeff Spicer/Getty

“As alleged in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and as we will prove in litigation, Wayfarer [Studios] and its associates engaged in unlawful, retaliatoryastroturfingagainst Ms. Lively for simply trying to protect herself and others on a film set. And their response to the lawsuit has been to launch more attacks against Ms. Lively since her filing.”

Lively previously revealed at theIt Ends With Uspremiere in August that Reynoldscontributed lines of dialogue to the romantic drama’s rooftop scene.

“We help each other, we work together so much,” she said of Reynolds in thatE! News red carpet interview. “…He works on everything I do, I work on everything he does. So his wins, his celebrations are mine and mine are his. He’s all over this film.”

source: people.com