Ryan Reynolds Dragged Deeper Into Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni Feud

After being accused of “aggressively” berating Justin Baldoni in a lawsuit, Ryan Reynolds has been warped in deeper to his wife Blake Lively’s legal feud against her co-star with industry heavy hitters, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Marvel president Kevin Feige, caught in the aftermath.

Variety exclusively reports that on Jan. 7 Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, sent a litigation hold letter to Feige and Iger demanding that they preserve any documents pertaining to Baldoni and the creation of Deadpool character, “Nicepool.”

As Baldoni and Lively’s legal battles continues to make the rounds of online discourse, a prevalent theory amongst internet folk has been that the “Nicepool” character was intentionally used by Reynolds as a satirical vessel to make fun of the man his wife has posited a series of allegations against.

The letter asks for “any and all documents relating to the development of the ‘Nicepool’ character” and any “communications relating to the development, writing, and filming of storylines and scenes featuring ‘Nicepool’” to be preserved. It also calls for Disney and Marvel to retain “all documents relating to or reflecting a deliberate attempt to mock, harass, ridicule, intimidate, or bully Baldoni through the character of ‘Nicepool.’”

Representatives for Reynolds, Disney and Marvel did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment. Freedman’s team sent a copy of the litigation hold to the Daily Beast.

The letter appears to be an escalated effort from Baldoni’s lawyer to substantiate his belief that the “Nicepool” character seen in Deadpool and Wolverine was indeed created by Reynolds to make fun of Baldoni.

The attorney appeared on The Megyn Kelly Show Jan. 7 where he emboldened the internet’s theory and claimed that Reynolds used “his power and influence” on Deadpool and Wolverine to ridicule Baldoni, pointing to a specific scene where its eponymous lead characters meet Nicepool for the first time and where he quickly begins touting his “feminist” ideals.

“Oh my goodness, wait until you see Ladypool. She is gorgeous,” Nicepool, played by Reynolds, says in the scene. “She just had a baby, too, you can’t even tell.”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to say that,” Deadpool replies, prompting Nicepool to say, “That’s OK. I identify as a feminist.”

In a legal complaint filed against Baldoni in December, Lively alleged that her It Ends with Us co-star “routinely degraded her” throughout production and would criticize her “body and weight.” She also alleged that Baldoni called her trainer behind her back and requested that she lose weight, less than four months after she had given birth to her fourth child with Reynolds.

Baldoni has largely built his brand on being an ally to women, identifying himself as a feminist on several occasions and pursuing a myriad of endeavors tied to gender including hosting a podcast titled, Man Enough, where he discusses modern masculinity.

“If your wife is sexually harassed, you don’t make fun of Justin Baldoni,” Freedman continued while reflecting on the Nicepool scene on The Megyn Kelly Show. “You don’t make fun of the situation. You take it very seriously. File HR complaints. You raise the issue and follow a legal process.”

“What you don’t do is mock the person and turn it into a joke. There’s no question it relates to Justin,” he continued. “I mean anybody that can watch that—the hair bun, the comment about the pregnancy—it’s pretty obvious what’s being done.”

Lively sued Baldoni late last year for alleged sexual harassment and for engineering a “smear” campaign against her. Meanwhile, Baldoni has sued The New York Times for an article they published featuring Lively’s allegations, though Freedman has announced his intent to sue Lively as well.