Ryan Reynolds’ ‘tirade’ at co-star of his wife Blake Lively as $250m lawsuit inflames celebrity feud

Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds are accused of “bullying” the producer and director of the film It Ends With Us in a bombshell $250 million (AUD$400 million) lawsuit.

Legal papers filed by Justin Baldoni claim he was “berated” by Reynolds during a heated meeting in their New York penthouse last year.

The Deadpool actor is said to have “aggressively” accused Baldoni of a string of offences against his wife, including “fat shaming” her.

In spite of persistent rumours about drama behind the scenes, It Ends With Us - an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling book - was a box-office success when it opened last August.

Lively and Baldoni star as a couple whose seemingly fairytale marriage turns abusive.

The lawsuit says that on the evening of January 4 last year, Baldoni plus other producers and a representative of Sony were invited to the home of the Hollywood A-listers.

“They arrived eager to discuss plans for the next day’s filming. Instead, they were blindsided by Lively and Reynolds, who presented a list of grievances that were unanticipated and troubling,” says the lawsuit.

“Reynolds launched into a tirade, berating Baldoni in what he later described as a ‘traumatic’ encounter, stating he had ‘never been spoken to like that in his life’.

Reynolds demanded an apology to Lively for actions that were mis-characterised and demonstrably false.

“When Baldoni resisted apologising for what he had not done, Reynolds became further enraged. Everyone, including the producer Lively had asked production to engage and a representative of Sony that was in attendance, left that ‘meeting’ in shock.”

Baldoni says after the filming was complete that Lively took over the movie project from him, refused to walk the red carpet or attend its premiere with him, and that she and husband Reynolds allegedly used their power to try to damage him.

The lawsuit says that in July last year, before the film’s release, he got word that “during the premiere of his movie Deadpool & Wolverine, Reynolds approached Baldoni’s agent at William Morris Endeavor and demanded that the agent ‘drop’ Baldoni”.

Baldoni was subsequently dropped by WME.

The agency on Wednesday denied that there was any pressure from Reynolds or Lively, both WME clients, to do so.

The lawsuit was filed on New Year’s Eve against The New York Times after its story on December 20 said that a Hollywood “smear machine” had been summoned into action to discredit Lively.

That article was based in part on an 80-page legal complaint filed by Lively which accused Baldoni and his producing partner Jamey Heath of sexual harassment.

Instead, says the suit, the “true source of tension between Lively and Plaintiffs... was Lively’s brazen and calculated effort to expropriate the film”.

It adds: “Lively’s cynical abuse of sexual harassment allegations to assert unilateral control over the production was both strategic and manipulative.”

In a text message to a colleague, Baldoni complained of Lively’s behaviour: “It’s just mean and hurtful and she knows exactly what she’s doing.”

Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman promises to file more lawsuits in the coming days.

The legal team acting for Baldoni and his publicists has produced a wealth of text, email and WhatsApp evidence which they say proves that Lively undertook a “hostile takeover” of the film.

It says that she “disrupted” the film by refusing to meet with an intimacy coordinator, demanded that her wardrobe was changed and that outfits were taken to her home so that she could look at them, and added lines to the film.

Eventually she took over editing the movie and produced her own cut.

It is alleged that she “threatened” producers Sony that she would walk out and eventually wrested full control from Baldoni.

Baldoni says that he, his family and friends were not invited to the film’s after-party, were forbidden from the red carpet and on the night of the premiere even ended up sheltering in a basement holding area because Lively wouldn’t permit them to be in the same room as her.

After viewing the film, in a separate theatre to Lively and the rest of the cast, they were escorted away by security.

The event was “humiliating” for Baldoni, who had bought the rights to the book in 2019 and was the film’s producer, director and star.

Accusations of sexual harassment against Heath and Baldoni are denied.

The New York Times said that Heath showed Lively a video of his naked wife which she had mistaken for pornography.

The lawsuit shows a still image from the video and adds: “The video in question was a (non- pornographic) recording of Heath’s wife and baby during a home birth – a deeply personal one with no sexual overtone.”

The video was shown as part of a “creative discussion” to prepare for a birthing scene in the film.

The New York Times also said that both men entered her make-up trailer uninvited and when she was topless.

The lawsuit says that Lively invited Baldoni into her trailer while she was “pumping” (expressing breast milk) so that they could work out their lines.

It includes a text message allegedly from Lively in June 2023 which runs: “I’m just pumping in my trailer if you wanna work out some lines.”

The lawsuit notes: “Both Heath and Baldoni have children, and are comfortable around breastfeeding mothers, and Lively seemed equally comfortable.”

Accusations that Baldoni improvised unwanted kissing and discussed his sex life in ways which were inappropriate are said to be “misleading”.

The lawsuit says: “Lively refused to meet with the intimacy coordinator to plan out the film’s sex scenes. Baldoni, in turn, was forced to meet with the intimacy coordinator alone and relay any suggestions to Lively separately”.

The most explosive fall-out though concerned Lively’s weight.

Baldoni, who declares a history of back trouble, says that he asked his trainer how much his co-star weighed as he was training for a scene in which she was lifted up.

The trainer told Lively, and Lively told her husband Ryan Reynolds.

The lawsuit says: “The confrontation that followed was so aggressive that Baldoni felt compelled to offer repeated apologies, despite his question being entirely reasonable”Following this incident, Lively refused to perform the lift scene, even though it had already been rehearsed with a stunt double. Lively gave Baldoni an ultimatum: to either cast someone else or work with her in the way she works.”

The lawsuit goes on: “The fact is that Lively embarked on a hostile takeover of the production, strong-arming Sony into blessing her with ultimate control.”

The lawsuit says that the allegations that Baldoni, aided by crisis PRs Melissa Nathan and Jen Abel at TAG who he had hired just before the premiere, created a global smear campaign against the actress is false, and was a strategy used by Lively to try to reclaim her damaged public image.

She was widely criticised for plugging her haircare products and booze brands while on the press tour for the film.

The New York Times said in a statement that it was standing by its reporting in the face of the $250 million lawsuit.

A representative for the publication insisted the story was “meticulously reported” and they plan to defend the lawsuit.

Ms Lively has also filed a federal complaint against Wayfarer Studios and others in the Southern District of New York.