March 20, 2025
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In the latest filing in the ‘It Ends With Us’ legal drama, Reynolds says Baldoni is trying to chill his free speech rights by suing him for libel.

Ryan Reynolds is arguing that he couldn’t have defamed Justin Baldoni because he genuinely believes the It Ends With Us director engaged in predatory behavior.

In a bid to dismiss the lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Reynolds takes advantage of the high legal bar to prove defamation against a public figure in which it must be found that the allegedly libelous statements were made with knowledge they were false or reckless indifference to their truth. He claims First Amendment protections and points to previous statements from Baldoni over allegedly mistreating women and pushing the boundaries of consent.

Baldoni’s lawsuit “does not allege any plausible facts that would remotely suggest, let alone establish, that anyone interpreted Mr. Reynolds’ statements as reflecting anything other than his genuinely held belief about Mr. Baldoni’s character,” writes Michael Gottlieb, a lawyer for the actor, in the filing.

The filing is the latest in a multifront legal battle featuring Blake Lively and Baldoni in which both sides accuse the other of orchestrating a smear campaign. After the actress sued, Baldoni filed his own lawsuit alleging extortion, defamation and claims related to breach of contract, among several others. Reynolds has been drawn into the litigation for allegedly approaching Baldoni’s agency, namely an executive at WME, and claiming that Baldoni is a “sexual predator.” Later, Reynolds demanded that the agency, which also represents him and Lively, drop Baldoni, the lawsuit alleged.

In a statement, Bryan Freedman, a lawyer for Baldoni, said Reynolds’ “exploitation of his enormous power in Hollywood continues, this time arrogantly asking to be dismissed from the case despite his publicly documented involvement extending far beyond just being a ‘supportive spouse.’” He added that the actor was a “key player in the scheme, defaming Justin around Hollywood, strong-arming WME into dropping Justin as a client, and trying to destroy Justin’s career however possible.”

In Tuesday’s filing, Reynolds argues that the lawsuit “does not identify a single allegedly defamatory statement” he directed toward Baldoni. Replying to accusations that he characterized Baldoni as a “predator” on a call with WME, Reynolds says that the lawsuit must allege specifics of the conversation, including the substance, date and context.

“The absence of these details makes it impossible, for example, to determine whether this statements falls within the applicable one-year statute of limitations for defamation,” Gottlieb writes.

And regardless of whether Baldoni can meet the standards to allege defamation, Reynolds says that his statement should be interpreted as an opinion rather than fact. He points to the lawsuit alleging that he expressed “his deep disdain” for Baldoni in his alleged conversation with the WME executive, saying that he has the First Amendment right to criticize the It Ends With Us director “or any man who [he] believes sexually harassed his wife.” He also cites statements from Baldoni indicating sexual misconduct. One example: Baldoni said on a podcast, “I’m sure I have crossed boundaries and lines in my teens and twenties not even thinking about it simply because of the porn I was consuming.”

Responding to other claims, Gottlieb writes in the motion to dismiss: “The Wayfarer Parties say that Mr. Reynolds extorted them, but fail to allege that he received any money or property. They claim he interfered with a contract without identifying what that contract is, what provisions were allegedly breached, or even which of them were parties to it. They assert $400 million in damages without explaining anything about who suffered that loss, in what proportion, as a result of which claims, or what proximately caused such losses.”

In a statement, Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, lawyers for Reynolds, said the actor has a “First Amendment right to express his opinion.” They added that Baldoni must prove that Reynolds didn’t believe that his characterization of Baldoni as a “predator” to prevail on his defamation claim.

Reynolds’ spokesperson said that the Baldoni is “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 woman in his life.”

Read Baldoni’s full statement below:

Mr. Reynolds’ exploitation of his enormous power in Hollywood continues, this time arrogantly asking to be dismissed from the case despite his publicly documented involvement extending far beyond just being a “supportive spouse.” Mr. Reynolds was a key player in the scheme, defaming Justin around Hollywood, strong-arming WME into dropping Justin as a client, and trying to destroy Justin’s career however possible. His fingerprints have been all over this smear campaign against Justin and the Wayfarer team since day one. Mr. Reynolds now attempts to reduce plainly cognizable claims to “hurt feelings”, sending a clear message that bullying is acceptable. After lighting a match, Mr. Reynolds now seeks to run from the flames. It won’t work. The Wayfarer Parties’ claims against him are real, and they are serious. Mr. Reynolds can appear on as many sketch shows as he wants and feebly try to make light of his current situation, but we will not stop until he is held accountable for his actions.

Read the full statement from Reynolds’ legal team below:

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. 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. 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.