Ryan Reynolds Is All Smiles as He Steps Out for First Time Since Blake Lively Filed Her Complaint Against Justin Baldoni

Mar. 15, 2025

Ryan Reynolds on Jan. 7.Photo:Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Ryan Reynoldsis stepping out for the first time sinceBlake LivelysuedJustin Baldoni.

The actor-producer, 48, was a presenter at this year’sNational Board of Review Awardsgala on Tuesday, Jan. 7, at New York City’s Cipriani 42nd Street. Wearing a grey jacket and white shirt, theDeadpool & Wolverinestar was on hand to introduce honoreeWicked, which the National Board of Review named the best movie of 2024.

“Wickedis indeed wicked,” Reynolds said of the film in his speech. “It dares to center on two powerful women. It examines a nuanced, complex relationship which has resonated with people for over two decades on stage. Stories about women seem to be held to a different set of standards, and that is to say that they’re often held to the standards women are held to in life. You must be perfect. You must must hide your strength. You must shape-shift or placate. But Donna Langley and Universal, they know where and with whom to place their trust, and it paid off in this film.”

Reynolds and his wife Lively, 37, have maintained a low profile in the weeks since Livelyfiled a Dec. 20 complaintagainst herIt Ends with Uscostar-director Baldoni, 40, and others, including several of his producing partners and publicists, allegingsexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaignagainst her.

Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman has called the claims “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious" and theJane the Virginstar, his production company Wayfarer Studios, business partners and public relations team subsequentlysued theNew York Timeson Dec. 31 for $250 million over theirarticleabout Lively’s allegations against him.

Ryan Reynolds on Jan. 7.John Nacion/Variety via Getty

John Nacion/Variety via Getty

In her initial Dec. 20 filing, Lively claimed Baldoniexhibited “disturbing" and “unprofessional” behavior on setthat led to a “hostile work environment.” Lively’s complaint includes accusations that Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath entered her trailer “uninvited” while she was undressed or “vulnerable,” alleges Baldoni “suddenly” pressured her to “simulate full nudity” in a birth scene and “improvised physical intimacy that had not been rehearsed, choreographed or discussed with Ms. Lively, with no intimacy coordinator involved."

Baldoni’s legal team has strongly denied Lively’s claims. Baldoni’s lawsuit against theTimesclaimed no smear campaign was executed, alleging it was the actress “who engaged in a calculated smear campaign” and that theTimesused “‘cherry-picked’ and altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead."

Among Baldoni’s accusations in hisTimeslawsuit is an allegedly contentious meeting with producers at Lively and Reynolds' New York City apartment in January 2024, soon before filming was set to resume after industry guild strikes ended.

While Lively’s complaint claims the “all hands” meeting “was convened to address the hostile work environment that had nearly derailed production,” Baldoni’slawsuit allegesthat Reynolds “launched into a tirade, berating Baldoni in what Baldoni later described as a ‘traumatic’ encounter, stating he had ‘never been spoken to like that in his life.'"

Ryan Reynolds (center) with ‘Wicked’ stars Michelle Yeoh, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater.Andrew H. Walker/Shutterstock

Andrew H. Walker/Shutterstock

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Last August at theIt Ends with UsNew York City premiere, Lively toldE! Newsthat Reynolds hadwritten a scenein the movie. “We help each other,” she said at the time. “He works on everything I do; I work on everything he does. So his wins, his celebrations are mine and mine are his.”

Reynolds and Lively laststepped out togetherin early December to supportCynthia ErivoandAriana Grandeat a screening of Jon M. Chu’sWicked: Part One. The movie musical topped the National Board of Review’s honoree class with prizes for best film and director, as well as the NBR Spotlight Award for the “creative collaboration” between the actresses behind Oz’s Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.

source: people.com