The legal team of Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds has finally addressed Justin Baldoni’s $400 million defamation lawsuit against him by going on the offensive.
This has come amid the ongoing lawsuit between his wife Blake Lively and Baldoni where he’s been accused of sexual harassment and orchestrating a public smear campaign.
But in the suit against Reynolds slapped in the same timeframe he has accused Reynolds of calling him a “sexual predator” and even worked behind the scenes to get him dropped from his talent agency WME.
This has led to a statement being issued by Reynolds legal team of attorney Michael Gottlieb and Esra Hudson to clap back and say “The entirety of Mr. Baldoni’s case appears to be based on Mr. Reynolds allegedly privately calling Mr. Baldoni a ‘predator,’ but here is 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, and just the opposite, the allegations in the complaint suggest that Mr. Reynolds genuinely believes Mr. Baldoni is a predator.”
In their interview with The Post the team also added, “Mr. Reynolds’ wife has accused Mr. Baldoni — privately and in multiple complaints — of sexual harassment and retaliation, and as pointed out by Mr. Reynolds’ motion, Mr. Baldoni has also openly spoken about his past of mistreating women and pushing the boundaries of consent.”
So “Mr. Reynolds has a First Amendment right to express his opinion of Mr. Baldoni, which should be comforting to a group of people who have repeatedly called Ms. Lively and Mr. Reynolds ‘bullies’ and other names over the past year.”
A similar statement has also been issued by Reynolds’ spokesperson who claims, “The claims filed against Mr. Reynolds are simply a list of grievances attempting to shame Mr. Reynolds for being the man Mr. Baldoni has built his brand pretending to be, a man who is ‘confident enough to listen’ to the women in his life.”
So “We look forward to this lawsuit being dismissed, and to collecting on Steve Sarowitz’s $100 million pledge by recovering Mr. Reynolds’ costs and attorneys’ fees incurred to toss this frivolous case.”
For those unversed Sarowitz is the persona responsible for funding Mr Baldoni’s production company, Wayfarer Studios that created It Ends With Us.
