Ryan Reynolds was apparently joking around with Justin Baldoni long before his wife Blake Lively filed a lawsuit against her It ends with us coster/director.

As reported by Daily Mailthe Virgin Jane alum attorney Bryan Freedman, in an interview with The Megyn Kelly Show claimed that the 48-year-old Deadpool the actor “used his power and influence to create a Deadpool & Wolverine character that parodied Baldoni”.

“What Ryan Reynolds has apparently done is use his power and influence over Deadpool and to make fun of Justin Baldoni,” the lawyer began.

Host Kelly played a clip of Reynolds’ latest film’s Nicepool character, who wore a manbun style previously worn by Baldoni, and had dialogue referencing an affinity for social activism, as well as Lively’s Ladypool character and her pregnancy, and then asked Freedman how he felt about it. .

To this the lawyer replied: “What I mean is that if your wife is sexually harassed, you don’t make fun of Justin Baldoni; you don’t make fun of the situation – you take it very seriously.”

Elaborating further, Freedman said, “What you don’t do is mock the person and make it a joke.”

The lawyer further added: “If someone is being sexually harassed, you don’t make fun of it – it’s a serious issue.”

Freedman said that traits displayed by the Nicepool character were a clear joke at Baldoni’s expense in an attempt to humiliate the actor-director, referring to the bump of hair and the comment about the pregnancy.

For the uninitiated, Blake Lively first filed a complaint against her It ends with us costar alleging sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign to tarnish the actress’ public image.

Meanwhile, Justin Baldoni’s lawyers denied the allegations, and on December 31, 2024, the actor-director also filed a $250 million lawsuit against New York Times over the newspaper’s article about Lively’s complaint.