Justin Baldoni referred to Ryan Reynolds as Blake Lively’s “co-conspirator” in a Tuesday filing that asked a judge to deny the “Deadpool” actor’s motion to be dismissed from Baldoni’s $400 million defamation lawsuit.
“Reynolds pretends” that Baldoni’s and the Wayfarer Studios legal team’s “First Amended Complaint (the ‘FAC’) fails to set forth any basis for his liability and that he merely acted as a supportive spouse,” Baldoni’s lawyers wrote in the filing obtained by Fox News Digital. “Not so. The FAC specifically alleges ample facts to support the Wayfarer Parties claims against him, based on both his direct actions and his liability as a co-conspirator.”
It went on to say “even in the extremely unlikely event that the Court determines” dismissing Reynolds from the lawsuit is “appropriate, Reynolds is unable to recover his attorneys’ fees,” saying that Anti-SLAPP laws that protect people from meritless lawsuits don’t apply in this case.
The filing added, “In short, the Motion should be denied.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to reps for Reynolds and Lively for comment.
Baldoni’s defamation suit against Lively accuses Reynolds of “defamation, false light invasion of privacy, tortious interference, and civil extortion.” False light is an invasion of privacy that portrays someone in an unfair light. Reynolds’ team has filed a motion to have the actor removed from the suit.
A spokesperson for Reynolds told People magazine on Thursday, “The main takeaway from the Wayfarer Parties’ opposition to Ryan’s motion to dismiss their case is that they finally realize the plain defects in their complaint.”
“They once again claim defamation without alleging who was defamed, what specifically was said, or how anyone suffered actual harm,” the spokesperson continued. “Unlike Mr. Baldoni, who built his brand pretending to be a man who is ‘confident enough to listen’ to the women in his life, Ryan Reynolds actually is that man, and he will continue to support his wife as she stands up to the individuals who not only harassed her but then have retaliated against her.” The spokesperson added, “Under New York law, California law, and indeed in every jurisdiction of the United States this lawsuit not only fails but may result in the Wayfarer Parties covering Ryan’s costs and attorneys’ fees for bringing such a frivolous case in the first place.”
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Baldoni’s Tuesday filing said that Reynolds’ claim that his suit “fails to identify defamatory statements he made fails on its face.”
“The FAC alleges that, at least twice, Reynolds stated to WME executives—Baldoni’s and Wayfarer’s talent agency—that Baldoni is a sexual predator and that, by implication, WME was in business with a sexual predator,” the filing said, adding, “These allegations are more than sufficiently specific, identifying the speaker, the listeners, and why, where and when the statements were made.”
Baldoni’s team in their Tuesday filing also used a quote Reynolds jokingly made last summer while doing press for “Deadpool & Wolverine,” in which he said, “I’ve realized that I’m too big to fail at this point, so I just crush my enemies and drink their blood.”
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After filing the motion to dismiss last month, Reynolds’ lawyers said that Baldoni’s entire case against Reynolds “appears to be based on Mr. Reynolds allegedly privately calling Mr. Baldoni a ‘predator,’ but here’s the problem — that is not defamation unless they can show that Mr. Reynolds did not believe that statement to be true. The complaint doesn’t allege that. In fact, it suggests the opposite: that Mr. Reynolds genuinely believes Mr. Baldoni is a predator,” People magazine reported.
Lively sued Baldoni last December for sexual harassment, retaliation, intentional affliction of emotional distress, negligence and more related to their movie “It Ends With Us,” which came out last summer.
The same day Lively filed her federal suit, Baldoni filed a $250 million suit against the New York Times for a December article about the alleged smear campaign he attempted to run against his co-star.
Weeks later, Baldoni then named Lively and Reynolds in a separate $400 million defamation lawsuit in which he accused the Hollywood power couple of attempting to hijack “It Ends With Us” and create their own narrative.
In Baldoni’s suit, he claimed Lively took over the edit, and he was essentially locked out of the film. From there, she allegedly threatened not to attend the premiere.
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In addition to releasing a website detailing the timeline of events that allegedly occurred, Baldoni’s team also shared unedited footage from the set of “It Ends With Us.” Both Lively and Baldoni have claimed the footage bolsters their respective claims.
Lively has also filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
