Justin Baldoni has expanded his legal battle against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, filing an amended 224-page lawsuit that introduces new claims about New York Times metadata and accuses Reynolds of using his Deadpool & Wolverine character, Nicepool, to bully him.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday night, comes amid an ongoing legal and public relations feud stemming from Baldoni and Lively’s collaboration on the film It Ends with Us. Baldoni, who directed and co-starred in the movie, has been locked in a bitter dispute with Lively and Reynolds for the past six weeks.
New Allegations About New York Times Metadata
One of the key additions to the lawsuit revolves around metadata from the New York Times website. Baldoni’s legal team claims that the metadata reveals the newspaper had access to Lively’s civil rights complaint against him at least 11 days before its explosive December 21 report.
The article, titled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” accused Baldoni and his publicists of attempting to damage Lively’s reputation in retaliation for her allegations of sexual harassment on set. Baldoni’s lawsuit alleges defamation, arguing that the Times and Lively twisted text messages and took them out of context to smear him.
According to the amended complaint, the Times allegedly uploaded a version of Lively’s complaint on December 10, more than a week before it was officially filed. The lawsuit also suggests that the Times began working on the story as early as October 31, based on additional metadata.
Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, stated, “This fresh evidence corroborates what we knew all along: that Ms. Lively and her team colluded for months to destroy reputations through a complex web of lies, false accusations, and manipulated communications.”
The New York Times has denied these claims, calling them “inaccurate” and attributing the December 10 date to a Google software glitch. A spokesperson for the Times said, “The Baldoni/Wayfarer legal filings are rife with inaccuracies about The New York Times. The claim that we had early access to Ms. Lively’s complaint is baseless and stems from amateur internet sleuths who are, not surprisingly, wrong.”
Ryan Reynolds and the ‘Nicepool’ Allegations
The lawsuit also takes aim at Ryan Reynolds, accusing him of using his Deadpool & Wolverine character, Nicepool, to mock and bully Baldoni. According to the complaint, Nicepool is portrayed as a “vicious caricature of a ‘woke’ feminist,” whose storyline ends with his violent death at the hands of Ladypool, a character voiced by Blake Lively.
Baldoni claims that Nicepool was intended to be a “transparent and mocking portrayal” of Reynolds’ perception of him. The lawsuit alleges that the scene was filmed in January 2024, shortly after an alleged confrontation at Lively and Reynolds’ apartment, where Reynolds reportedly berated Baldoni and demanded an apology for actions Baldoni denies.
Legal Battle Heats Up
Both sides are scheduled to appear in court on Monday for their first hearing on the federal lawsuits. Lively’s legal team has expressed concerns about Baldoni’s PR campaign, arguing that it could prejudice potential jurors. They anticipate that Freedman will publish a website containing further evidence, which they have asked the court to restrict.
As the legal drama unfolds, the case continues to draw attention for its high-profile participants and the serious allegations at its core.
