Ryan Reynolds called Justin Baldoni a 'predator, sociopath' in texts?
What's the story
In newly unsealed court documents, actor Ryan Reynolds has been accused of calling director-actor Justin Baldoni a "predator and sociopath" in texts. The messages were reportedly exchanged between Reynolds and author of It Ends With Us, Colleen Hoover, on August 10, 2024. They were recently unsealed as part of the legal battle involving Reynolds's wife, Blake Lively. The Gossip Girl actor had earlier accused Baldoni of sexual harassment during the filming of the movie adaptation of It Ends With Us.
Discontent expressed
'The narrative must first land on why a woman...'
According to Page Six, Reynolds wrote in the messages, "It's amazing to me that you can have everybody involved with a production completely run away from a person who is obviously a predator and sociopath and the narrative must first land on why a woman is the problem."
"It's amazing to me how low people still go."
"But people are already coming forward and soon enough someone is just gonna go on record."
Allegations
Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment in December 2024
The text messages were allegedly sent as Lively was facing backlash for promoting It Ends With Us alone, a film about domestic violence that Baldoni directed and also starred in.
In December 2024, Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni, alleging he had sexually harassed her during the filming.
She also accused him of launching a smear campaign against her in retaliation for speaking out.
Strategy satire
Reynolds also mocked Baldoni's crisis team strategy
In the same text exchange, Reynolds also satirized Baldoni's crisis public relations strategy.
He imagined a conversation between Baldoni and his crisis team.
"Crisis team: okay, Justin, all you do is talk about DV and how wonderful Blake is. And we'll handle the online stuff."
"No matter what, you keep up your feminist advocacy. And speak like an emotionally elevated thought leader. Understood?"
"Justin: Namaste. Let's get this bi*ch."
Source
'Ryan was trying to protect his wife'
A source close to Reynolds told the outlet, "It is no secret that Ryan was trying to protect his wife, who was being targeted by a crisis PR team hired by Baldoni."
"This is the same crisis team...who has been accused of these smear tactics in at least five other lawsuits, according to the NYT."
Meanwhile, Baldoni denied Lively's claims and filed a $400 million defamation and extortion lawsuit against her, Reynolds, and their PR team, which was later dismissed.