Yahoo Lifestyle Ryan Reynolds’ ‘Deadpool’ Jokes Lead To Big Legal Demand From Justin Baldoni
Looks like Justin Baldoni may be willing to go to war with Marvel and Disney over a joke made by Ryan Reynolds in “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
Baldoni is currently suing The New York Times for $250 million for a recent story about a harassment complaint against him and other producers made by his “It Ends With Us” co-star, Blake Lively.
But Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, may also be going after Reynolds, who is Lively’s husband, over the way Reynolds mocked his client.
According to Variety, on Jan. 7, Freedman sent a litigation hold letter to Marvel and Disney bigwigs Kevin Feige and Bob Iger over his client’s “anticipated claims” against Reynolds, Lively and other unnamed parties.
Considering that “It Ends With Us” was made by Sony and not Disney or Marvel, the legal request might seem strange, but Freedman apparently is focused on finding the details behind a deleted-but-resurfaced scene from “D&W” that he believes mocks Baldoni.
The scene shows Reynolds as both his Deadpool character and “Nicepool,” a variant from an alternate universe who wears a man bun, a hairstyle associated with Baldoni until last year.
Reynolds is one of the credited screenwriters, and, at one point, Nicepool tells Deadpool, “I’d be fighting alongside you, but my calling is to one day start a podcast that monetizes the women’s movement,” a possible reference to Baldoni’s “Man Enough” podcast.
Freedman’s letter calls on both Marvel and Disney to preserve all relevant documents and data related to Baldoni, as well as “any and all documents relating to the development of the ‘Nicepool’ character” and also “communications relating to the development, writing, and filming of storylines and scenes featuring ‘Nicepool,’” Variety reports.
The letters also demands Disney and Marvel “retain all documents relating to or reflecting a deliberate attempt to mock, harass, ridicule, intimidate, or bully Baldoni through the character of ‘Nicepool.’”
Although Freedman didn’t comment directly to Variety about the letter, he told Megyn Kelly last week that Nicepool’s “hair bun” means there’s “no question [the scene] relates to Justin.”
However, he told Kelly that Reynolds’ joke against Baldoni could backfire when it comes time to defend their actions against his client.
“If your wife is sexually harassed, you don’t make fun of Justin Baldoni. You don’t make fun of the situation. You take it very seriously,” Freedman said. “You file HR complaints, you raise the issue, and you follow a legal process. What you don’t do is mock the person and turn it into a joke.”
The lawyer added: “Again, if somebody is seriously sexually harassed, you don’t make fun of it. It’s a serious issue.”
Variety notes that the end of “D&W” says that the role of Nicepool is credited to “Gordon Reynolds,” and points out that Lively thanked a person by the same name in the end credits of “It Ends With Us.”
