Apparently, it does not end with them.
The fallout radius of the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni legal battle continues to spread, with Marvel president Kevin Feige, Disney CEO Bob Iger and director Tim Miller becoming the latest industry figures swept into the drama.
On Jan. 7, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman sent a litigation hold letter to Feige and Iger in connection with his client’s “anticipated claims” against Ryan Reynolds, Lively and other unnamed parties. Variety has viewed a copy of the letter, which calls on the studio to preserve all relevant documents and data with regards to Baldoni.
The move may come as a surprise given that “It Ends With Us,” the film at the center of the Lively and Baldoni rift, was released by Sony and had nothing to do with Disney. But Baldoni’s attorney believes that Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds was flagrantly mocking Baldoni in a sequence in Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which was released by Disney in July. The sequence features Reynolds playing “Nicepool,” an oafish alternate version of the eponymous hero Deadpool, saying such lines as “Where in God’s name is the intimacy coordinator?!” and complimenting Ladypool for “snapping back” into shape after giving birth.
Lively, who cameoed in the tentpole as Ladypool, recently accused Baldoni of sexually harassing and fat-shaming her post-partum body on the set of “It Ends With Us.” When Deadpool points out Nicepool’s misogyny in the scene, the latter replies, “It’s okay, I identify as a feminist.” (During the development, production and marketing of “It Ends With Us,” a drama about domestic violence, Baldoni often touted his credentials as a feminist and ally to women.)
Marvel and Disney declined comment as did an attorney for Reynolds and Lively. Freedman could not be reached for comment. He is believed to be one of the many industry figures whose home was destroyed in the Pacific Palisades fire that is still raging.
The litigation hold letter, sent the day the fires began, calls for Marvel and Disney to preserve “any and all documents relating to the development of the ‘Nicepool’ character” as well as “communications relating to the development, writing, and filming of storylines and scenes featuring ‘Nicepool.’” The letter also calls for the studio to retain “’ and all documents relating to or reflecting a deliberate attempt to mock, harass, ridicule, intimidate, or bully Baldoni through the character of ‘Nicepool.’”
Reynolds — who was a writer, producer and star of “Deadpool & Wolverine” — has never addressed if there’s a connection between Nicepool and Baldoni, even as fans speculated about just that long before the current legal clash between the parties that has spawned three lawsuits to date. On Dec. 31, Baldoni and nine others sued the New York Times for $250 million over its story that relied heavily on a letter filed with the California Civil Rights Department by Lively that accused the director of sexual harassment and carrying out a retaliatory online campaign. The group accused the Times of using “‘cherry-picked’ and doctored communications “stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead.” The complaint also claimed that Lively was the one who embarked on a “strategic and manipulative” smear campaign of her own and used false allegations “to assert unilateral control over every aspect of the production.”
During an appearance on “The Megyn Kelly Show” on Jan. 7, Freedman referenced the Nicepool character. “There’s no question it relates to Justin. I mean, anybody that watched that hair bun,” Freedman said. He also questioned why Reynolds would use his wife’s alleged sexual harassment for comedic fodder. “If somebody is seriously sexually harassed, you don’t make fun of it. It’s a serious issue,” Freedman added.
The litigation hold letter, which was written ahead of “anticipated claims relate to Reynolds and Lively’s tortious interference with contract and civil extortion,” goes well beyond the Nicepool character and implies that a Lively/Baldoni-style rift exists between Reynolds and Miller, who directed the first “Deadpool” movie but did not return for the sequel or “Deadpool & Wolverine.” (The director and star are known to have clashed.) The letter instructs the studio to preserve any documents and data “relating to complaints made against Ryan Reynolds by any person, including without limitation Tim Miller” and Miller’s departure from the film “Deadpool 2” as well as any instances of Reynolds exerting “creative control of any film project.” (Miller did not respond to an immediate request for comment.)
A litigation hold letter often precedes litigation. Baldoni has not sued Lively or Reynolds, but Freedman has indicated that a suit is imminent, telling Kelly that he plans to sue the Hollywood power couple “into oblivion.” Following publication of the Times story, Baldoni was dumped by WME, the agency he shared with Lively and Reynolds. WME also reps Miller.
After Baldoni and a group that also includes publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel sued the Times in Los Angeles Superior Court, Lively filed suit against the plaintiffs in federal court in a complaint that mirrored her CRD letter. And Baldoni’s former publicist Stephanie Jones sued him and Abel and Nathan. Jones claims that Baldoni breached his contract and that Nathan and Abel conspired to attack her. Lively’s attorneys confirmed that Jones’ company was the source of the text messages that appear in the actress’ CRD letter and the Times story.
In “Deadpool & Wolverine,” Nicepool says of Ladypool: “She is gorgeous. She just had a baby too, and you can’t even tell.” That would seem to mirror Lively’s allegation that Baldoni fat-shamed her with similar comments after she gave birth to her fourth child. (Baldoni’s Times lawsuit claims that he asked their mutual trainer about her weight because of back issues that limited the number of pounds he could lift.)
In the end credits of “Deadpool & Wolverine,” the actor who plays Nicepool is listed as “Gordon Reynolds” and not Ryan Reynolds. In a strange twist, Lively thanked Gordon Reynolds in the end credits of “It Ends With Us,” drawing a seeming line to Nicepool. And in July 22 Instagram post that tagged @deadpoolmovie and @itendswithusmovie, Lively wrote “about Nice men who use feminism as a tool.”
From Variety US