Latest news with #JustinBaldoni
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Ryan Reynolds' thinly veiled dig at Justin Baldoni amid Blake Lively legal battle
made a thinly-veiled dig at Justin Baldoni and called that the substantial backlash that he and his canceled second wife Blake Lively have suffered amid their legal war against the 41-year-old It Ends With Us director as 'meaningless.' 'I can read something that says, "He should be drawn and quartered." I could read something that says I should win a Nobel Prize. Both are meaningless,' the Canadian 48-year-old scoffed in his TIME100 cover story Thursday. 'None of us are comprised of our best moments. None of us are defined by our worst moments. We are something in the middle.' Ryan's production company and marketing firm Maximum Effort was honored by the magazine for being one of 'the 100 most influential companies,' but he doesn't feel like his business has been badly impacted by the lawsuits. 'Accessibility and accountability are a big part of how I do things,' Reynolds noted. 'The people that I work with know me, so there's never a question of anything like that. If you operate with some degree of core values and integrity, they're going to help you up. If you're an a**hole, they're not. And that's pretty simple.' The self-described 'people pleaser' stressed that his self-worth 'comes from having four kids and a good marriage' and nothing else 'that isn't under the roof of my home.' Ryan had called Justin a 'sexual predator' because his 37-year-old wife alleged she was sexually harassed by him on the set of It Ends with Us in the complaint she filed with the California Civil Rights Department complaint on December 20. But New York Times reporter Megan Twohey - who wrote Blake's exposé last December - told NPR 's Ari Shapiro last December that Baldoni's alleged sexual harassment against her wasn't that severe. '[Blake] told me, like, "Listen. This was actually not the worst that I have experienced in Hollywood. I've actually experienced far worse misconduct. You know, I spoke up because I wanted to address it, and I thought that I had, and I never had any intentions of discussing this or going public with my accusations,"' Twohey said. On June 9, federal Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed Justin and his Wayfarer Studios parties' $400M countersuit against Reynolds, Lively, and her publicist Leslie Sloane alleging civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy. Liman also dismissed Baldoni's $250M defamation lawsuit against the NY Times for its biased coverage of of the Another Simple Favor star's CRD complaint and text messages taken from Baldoni's publicist Jennifer Abel. Abel's text messages were obtained legally, while underhandedly, by Stephanie Jones via a subpoena from Vanzan Inc. - a shell company believed to be owned by Ryan and Blake (named after their hometowns of Vancouver and Tarzana). All of the details behind the elusive subpoena will no doubt be explored at Lively's defamation trial scheduled for March 2026 against Justin and his PR team for his 'plan' to undermine her reputation in retaliation with an online smear campaign. Baldoni's attorney Bryan Freedman missed Monday's deadline to amend four of their seven original claims against the Gossip Girl alum, who has already declared victory. 'The Court's decision on the motion to dismiss has no effect whatsoever on the truth that there was no harassment nor any smear campaign, and it does not in any way affect our vigorous defense against Ms. Lively's claims,' Freedman said in a statement Tuesday. 'Discovery is proceeding and we are confident that we will prevail against these factually baseless accusations. Instead of revising the existing claims, our clients will be pursuing additional legal options that are available to us.' Behind the scenes, none of the major talk show hosts - Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver - have cracked a joke about the Lively-Baldoni case after Reynolds' company Mint Mobile was one of two sponsors for their 2023 podcast, Strike Force Five. The Kwantlen Polytechnic University drop-out - who sold Mint Mobile to T-Mobile for $1.35B in 2023 - co-owns or has sold companies valued at over $14B, and Forbes ranked him the second highest earning actor of 2024 with $85M. Baldoni's attorney Bryan Freedman (pictured May 9) missed Monday's deadline to amend four of their seven original claims against the Gossip Girl alum, who has already declared victory The Kwantlen Polytechnic University drop-out - who sold Mint Mobile to T-Mobile for $1.35B in 2023 - co-owns or has sold companies valued at over $14B, and Forbes ranked him the second highest earning actor of 2024 with $85M (pictured May 6) Ryan produced I Like Me, Colin Hanks' fully-authorized documentary on the late Canadian comedian John Candy, which premieres September 4 at the Toronto Film Festival before streaming this fall on Amazon Prime Video. Reynolds produced and stars in Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley's US Navy film Mayday -premiering September 19 on Apple TV+ - alongside Kenneth Branagh and Maria Bakalova. The Deadpool & Wolverine producer-star has a mystery role in Peter Atencio's live action/animated comedy Animal Friends, which hits UK theaters October 10 and US theaters May 1, 2026. Ryan is also currently 'writing a little something right now that is an ensemble' film for his wisecracking mercenary character.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Ryan Reynolds roasted over 'sickening' TIME cover as fans are suspicious over how he and Blake Lively landed honor
Ryan Reynold's bizarre TIME cover has been roasted by fans who made shock claims about how he landed the prestigious shoot. The Deadpool star, 48, who along with wife Blake Lively has been embroiled in never-ending lawsuit drama with Justin Baldoni, was spotlighted in a feature titled: 'How Ryan Reynolds Rewrote the Script for Celebrity Entrepreneurs.' In recent years Reynolds has moved into the world of business - launching production company and marketing firm Maximum Effort - which has landed in the TIME100 most influential companies list. However, Reynolds' revelations about building successful businesses using his own fame and via 'fastversing' (getting companies he owns to promote each other) were soon ridiculed by fans who wildly claimed he had 'paid' to get on the cover. Reynolds was also dragged over hot coals for the 'weird' cover which showed only the back of his head - which he credited to not wanting to take the spotlight off his team. 'I insisted they take this photo for soooo many reasons but the chief one is @MaximumEffort is not me' he wrote. 'It's a tiny little pirate ship helmed by the most talented, tireless, and creative team of people on planet earth.' Fans took to social media to lambast the star with one writing: 'How Ryan Reynolds paid us to put him on the cover of this magazine!" Lol.' A second typed: 'How Ryan Reynolds rewrote the script with maximum effort' very ironic of them to say this given everything he's been exposed for. Others penned: 'These two keep on buying themselves good publicity, it's so exhausting and sickening. 'How to boycott everything Maximum Effort does??? God I loathe this man. 'That cash envelope from Reynolds must have been HUUGE. 'Very barf. $$$$$. Others praised the star's achievements - the companies he co-owns or has sold are valued at over $14 billion, according to Forbes , with a follower writing: 'You are one hell of a businessman. Everything you touch seems to take off. Maximum Effort was just named one of TIME100's Most Influential Companies. I insisted they take this photo for soooo many reasons but the chief one is @MaximumEffort is not me. It's a tiny little pirate ship helmed by the most talented, tireless, and creative team of people on… — Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) June 26, 2025 Fans took to social media to lambast the star with one writing: 'How Ryan Reynolds paid us to put him on the cover of this magazine!" Lol' 'Love to see this!!! Maximum Effort really is the best of the best! The wide-ranging interview also saw Reynolds open up about his family life with Lively and their four young children - with the actor saying his brood help him focus on the only important things in life. He said his value 'comes from having four kids and a good marriage. My self-worth isn't farmed out to any one thing that isn't under the roof of my home.' Lively also made an impromptu appearance during the chat, popping in in 'leggings and an oversized shirt' to hunt for her favorite snack of 'sour dried blueberries that taste like warheads.' She also jokingly scolded her husband for helping her rummage for the snack - saying it was 'chewing into your time' - before checking in with the star to coordinate their schedules for '10 minutes of catch-up time. Although Reynolds and Lively wouldn't be drawn on the latest stage of their legal battle - Reynolds said he finds it easy to detach from 'meaningless' online chatter. He said: 'I can read something that says, 'He should be drawn and quartered. I could read something that says I should win a Nobel Prize. Both are meaningless. 'None of us are comprised of our best moments. None of us are defined by our worst moments. We are something in the middle.' He added: 'Accessibility and accountability are a big part of how I do things. The people that I work with know me, so there's never a question of anything like that. If you operate with some degree of core values and integrity, they're going to help you up. If you're an asshole, they're not. And that's pretty simple.' The legal saga began in December 2024 when Blake Lively accused Justin Baldoni of sexually harassing her on set — claims he denied — prompting Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios to sue Lively, her publicist Leslie Sloane, and Ryan Reynolds for defamation. Baldoni later escalated the fight with a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times over its explosive New Year's Eve exposé detailing Lively's allegations. Earlier this month, a judge dismissed Baldoni's defamation case in a major blow to the actor, though his legal team will still gain access to Lively's private text messages with Taylor Swift — whom Blake infamously referred to as 'my dragon' in an exchange allegedly meant to intimidate Baldoni — after withdrawing a subpoena aimed at the singer directly. Now, at Cannes Lions, Reynolds took the stage at Stagwell's Sport Beach to promote his soccer team, Wrexham AFC — and raised eyebrows with an unexpected quip. While handing a water bottle to someone in the crowd, the Deadpool star joked, 'I'm not throwing this. I've been around lawyers. You can walk up here and grab it,' according to Page Six. He also took a moment to reflect on how sports can bring people together in a world fractured by division, per the outlet. 'We live in a world right now that is so… identity politics… almost a religion,' Reynolds said. 'For that to be checked at the door in sports, in theatrical film, and in music, concerts, we all walk in, we go together.' Reynolds added, 'We're all feeling the same thing at the same time and the same moment. 'You have this bonding mechanism — and I don't mean to over romanticize it, but it's romantic. 'It's a beautiful thing to watch people come together, especially when we feel so divided in every other aspect of our life.' The panel comes after exclusively learned that Baldoni's lawyers will be allowed to peruse a tranche of messages exchanged by Blake and Taylor, with all communications related to It Ends With Us now set for scrutiny. Swift and Lively's relationship has cratered in recent months, with the singer left furious at being dragged into the case. And she is not the only Swift to be dragged in: last week the Daily Mail revealed the subpoena against her had been withdrawn because Baldoni's team had managed to acquire the information they were seeking – from none other than her dad Scott, 73. 'Scott Swift did not want his daughter to be dragged into this any further and he voluntarily gave up this information as part of a deal that would include [Baldoni's team] withdrawing their subpoena for Taylor,' the source explained. The pop star's doting dad - who has played a key role in building Swift's billion-dollar empire as her financial advisor - came to his daughter's rescue after she was allegedly blackmailed by Lively's lawyers. That 'blackmail' revelation appeared in a legal letter filed last month by Baldoni's lawyers, who alleged that Lively's team had attempted to 'coerce' Swift to issue a public statement in support of her. The filing claimed Lively's lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, had contacted Swift's team and demanded she 'release a statement of support for Ms. Lively, intimating that, if Ms. Swift refused to do so, private text messages of a personal nature in Ms. Lively's possession would be released.' Swift's team allegedly responded to Gossip Girl star Lively's 'inappropriate and apparently extortionate threats in at least one written communication' sent to Gottlieb, according to the letter.
Screen Geek
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Screen Geek
Justin Baldoni's Lawyer Says Blake Lively Hasn't Won Just Yet
The legal debacle between celebrities Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively is far from over. At least, that's what Justin Baldoni's lawyer has to say, insisting that Blake Lively has not yet won and that she shouldn't be celebrating this soon. A judge recently dismissed Baldoni's $400 million defamation lawsuit that was made against Lively. As noted via Newsweek, Baldoni's laywer Bryan Freedman is taking the next steps necessary to continue their legal battle against Lively. Here's his latest statement regarding this endeavor: 'Ms. Lively and her team's predictable declaration of victory is false,' Freedman shared. 'This case is about false ccusations of sexual harassment and retaliation and a nonexistent smear campaign, which Ms. Lively's own team conveniently describes as 'untraceable' because they cannot prove what never happened,' he continued. 'Most importantly, Ms. Lively's own claims are no truer today than they were yesterday, and with the facts on our side, we march forward with the same confidence that we had when Ms. Lively and her cohorts initiated this battle and look forward to her forthcoming deposition, which I will be taking.' Currently, Baldoni's legal team has until June 23 to refile the amended claims of their dismissed lawsuit. The court is allowing the team to amend four of the seven claims against Blake Lively, with the court having dismissed the defamation-related claims, which the team hopes will allow them to provide more evidence and refined allegations. Although Lively's legal team is quite happy with the outcome so far, especially having the initial $400 million defamation lawsuit dismissed by a judge, Freedman could be right in that it's too early to celebrate. Especially if they're being allowed to amend four of their seven claims. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding the legal situation between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively as we have them, including whether or not Baldoni's lawyer has any additional statements to share. In the meantime, they do seem to be right in that the debacle will still be ongoing.
Daily Telegraph
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Telegraph
Justin Baldoni majorly shifts legal strategy against Blake Lively after dismissal of $615m defamation suit
Don't miss out on the headlines from Celebrity Life. Followed categories will be added to My News. Justin Baldoni will not be moving forward with amending his A$615 million lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. After Judge Lewis J. Liman shockingly threw out Baldoni's countersuit earlier this month, the actor/director's lawyer Bryan Freedman told Page Six that they are now focusing on Baldoni's defence. 'The Court's decision on the motion to dismiss has no effect whatsoever on the truth that there was no harassment nor any smear campaign, and it does not in any way affect our vigorous defence against Ms. Lively's claims,' Freedman said in a statement on Tuesday. 'Discovery is proceeding and we are confident that we will prevail against these factually baseless accusations,' he added. Liman claimed in his ruling to dismiss the defamation suit that Baldoni and his legal team 'have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her [California Civil Rights Department] complaint, which are privileged.' Lively first filed a lawsuit late last year. Picture: Angela Weiss/AFP Baldoni's countersuit was thrown out. Picture:for Vital Voices Global Partnership As part of the judge's decision, Baldoni was given until June 23 to amend his claims for breach of implied covenant (suggesting that terms agreed upon in their legal agreement were violated) and tortious interference with contract (intentionally disrupting the relationship or contractual agreement between parties, potentially leading to significant financial damages and reputational harm). However, 'instead of revising the existing claims,' Freedman told us that they 'will be pursuing additional legal options that are available to us.' Meanwhile, a spokesman for Lively told Page Six in a statement: 'The Court dismissed the frivolous $400 million (A$615 million) Baldoni-Wayfarer lawsuit in its entirety. In the days that followed, Baldoni's lawyer said the judge's decision to dismiss their case was not a big deal as they promised to amend and refile it. 'As per usual, that was not true. The Court's dismissal of Baldoni's sham lawsuit was a total victory after all.' The pair in a scene from It Ends With Us. Picture: Nicole Rivelli/Sony Pictures via AP Baldoni, 41, launched his suit against Lively, Reynolds and their publicist Leslie Sloane in January after the Gossip Girl alum accused him of sexual harassment during production on It Ends With Us in a complaint filed last December. Soon after she filed the complaint, Lively, 37, officially sued the actor and director for alleged sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and lost wages. Last week, Baldoni scored his own legal victory as Liman ruled that he could access to private text messages between Lively and Taylor Swift about the 2024 domestic violence film. 'The requests for messages with Swift regarding the film and this action are reasonably tailored to discover information that would prove or disprove Lively's harassment and retaliation claims,' the judge said in documents obtained by Page Six. This article originally appeared in Page Six and was reproduced with permission. Originally published as Justin Baldoni majorly shifts legal strategy against Blake Lively after dismissal of $615m defamation suit
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Justin Baldoni's Legal Battle With Blake Lively Takes A Shocking Turn, As Actor Refuses To File Amended Complaint
Justin Baldoni won't be refiling his defamation claims against Blake Lively following its dismissal on June 9. In a statement from his lawyer, Bryan Freedman, the actor prefers to pursue additional legal options rather than revise and refile the claims against his "It Ends With Us" co-star. Previously, Justin Baldoni's lawyer had described the judge's decision to dismiss the $400 million suit as unfair. At the time, he also stated that the film director "wants to be vindicated." Earlier in the month, Justin Baldoni suffered a massive loss in his ongoing feud against "It Ends With Us" co-star, Blake Lively, as Judge Lewis J. Liman chose to dismiss the $400 million defamation suit he filed against her. Legally, the film director was allowed to refile the claim with amendments before June 23, but it has now been revealed that he won't be making the move, per People Magazine. Rather than making an amendment, Baldoni intends to pursue "additional legal options." "Discovery is proceeding and we are confident that we will prevail against these factually baseless accusations," said Baldoni's lawyer in a statement. "Instead of revising the existing claims, our clients will be pursuing additional legal options that are available to us." Back in January, Baldoni filed the defamation suit against Lively in response to her own suit, where she accused him of sexually harassing her and spearheading a public smear campaign to destroy her reputation. In his suit, Baldoni has also named the actress's husband, Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist, Leslie Sloane, and Sloane's PR firm, Vision PR, Inc. Now that the lawsuit has been dismissed, there is a likelihood that the narrative surrounding the matter may change. However, Freedman, during his statement, emphasized that the dismissal does not nullify Baldoni's claims in any way. "The Court's decision on the motion to dismiss has no effect whatsoever on the truth that there was no harassment nor any smear campaign," Freedman said elsewhere in his statement. "And it does not in any way affect our vigorous defense against Ms. Lively's claims," he added. The remarks from Baldoni's lawyer come after he slammed the decision from Liman to dismiss the case. He described the decision as "not fair" and "not right" in an interview with TMZ Live the day after the judge ruled on the motion. Freedman also stated that Baldoni desires to be "vindicated" and noted that this has been his primary focus since Lively made the complaints about him. "He knows who he is. He knows what he's done. He knows what he hasn't done," the attorney told the outlet. "And he wants the truth to come out, and he wants to do that in the appropriate way ... he's waiting for his day in court, where he can speak out to tell the truth," Freedman added. Lively sued Baldoni in December 2024, accusing the director of sexually harassing her on the set of their movie, "It Ends With Us," where they both played leading roles. Baldoni then responded with a $400 million countersuit, alleging that Lively and her husband tried to seize control of the movie from him. However, Judge Liman dismissed Baldoni's lawsuit against the actress, noting that Lively's allegations were made within privileged court papers. Following the news of Baldoni's suit being tossed, a source close to Lively told the Daily Mail that she "cried with relief" upon learning about the bombshell ruling. "Complete elation from Blake's world and a monkey off her back," the insider said. "Blake is breathing a sigh of relief right now, and all tears are happy tears." Back in March, Baldoni's lawyer hinted that the possibility of a settlement between Lively and the actor was unlikely. The Freedman had appeared on a podcast, "The Town," where the host, Matthew Belloni, suggested that Baldoni might be willing to settle due to the "potential for the circus and the damage to both sides" of a trial. In response, the lawyer brushed off the "circus" narrative while explaining that the allegations had done deep damage to Baldoni. "The reality is this is not a circus when you go through an experience like this," Freedman said, per Us Weekly. "I've represented a lot of people in the worst moments of their career, the worst moments of their life. Justin has been destroyed by this." As things continue to unfold, Lively and Baldoni have March 9 2026 to look forward to for their trial.
