The Hollywood spotlight has turned into a legal battlefield as Ryan Reynolds takes a bold stand to extricate himself from a $400 million lawsuit filed by Justin Baldoni, the director and co-star of It Ends With Us. This high-stakes drama, which also ensnares Reynolds’ wife, Blake Lively, has captivated the entertainment world, revealing a tangled web of allegations, counterclaims, and a fierce struggle over reputations and creative control. As of March 19, 2025, the saga continues to unfold, with Reynolds’ recent motion to be dismissed from the lawsuit marking a pivotal moment in a conflict that began on the set of the 2024 film and has since spiraled into a public spectacle.

The origins of this legal war trace back to December 2024, when Blake Lively filed a complaint with California’s Civil Rights Department, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment during the filming of It Ends With Us, a romantic drama adapted from Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel. Lively, who starred alongside Baldoni, alleged that he created a hostile work environment, citing inappropriate comments and behavior, including entering her trailer uninvited while she was pumping breast milk or changing. She further claimed that after she reported the harassment, Baldoni and his team at Wayfarer Studios orchestrated a retaliatory smear campaign to tarnish her reputation, using media manipulation to “bury” her credibility. Lively’s allegations were detailed in a New York Times article published on December 21, 2024, which included text messages allegedly showing Baldoni’s team discussing ways to undermine her.

Baldoni, who also directed the film, swiftly denied the accusations, calling them “categorically false” and accusing Lively of attempting to seize control of the project. On January 16, 2025, he escalated the conflict by filing a $400 million lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, naming Lively, Reynolds, their publicist Leslie Sloane, and Sloane’s firm Vision PR as defendants. Baldoni’s 179-page complaint alleged defamation, civil extortion, and invasion of privacy, claiming that Lively and Reynolds used their immense Hollywood influence to “steal” the film from him and destroy his career. He accused Lively of rewriting scenes, making unauthorized changes, and sidelining him during the promotional tour, while alleging that Reynolds pressured Baldoni’s former agency, WME, to drop him by labeling him a “sexual predator.” Baldoni’s legal team, led by attorney Bryan Freedman, asserted that they had “untampered evidence” to prove Lively’s claims were fabricated, including text messages and emails that purportedly show her manipulating the narrative for personal gain.

Reynolds, who had no formal role in It Ends With Us, found himself dragged into the fray due to his association with Lively and specific allegations in Baldoni’s lawsuit. Baldoni claimed that Reynolds contributed to the film’s script without his knowledge—Lively later confirmed in an interview that Reynolds wrote the movie’s rooftop scene—and that Reynolds attended a meeting at the couple’s New York penthouse to pressure Baldoni into accepting Lively’s creative changes. Baldoni’s suit also referenced a “megacelebrity friend” of the couple, later speculated to be Taylor Swift, who allegedly praised Lively’s script revisions during the meeting, a move Baldoni interpreted as intimidation. Additionally, Baldoni’s team sent a letter to Disney and Marvel executives, alleging that Reynolds mocked him in Deadpool & Wolverine through the character “Nicepool,” whose lines about intimacy coordinators and post-pregnancy weight loss mirrored Lively’s harassment claims against Baldoni.

On March 18, 2025, Reynolds made a decisive move to distance himself from the lawsuit, filing a motion to be dismissed from Baldoni’s $400 million claim. In a blistering statement reported by Deadline, Reynolds’ legal team argued that Baldoni’s accusations against him were baseless, rooted in “clickbait falsehoods” and “hurt feelings” rather than concrete evidence. They described the lawsuit as a “gossip rag” tactic, asserting that Reynolds had no direct involvement in the It Ends With Us production disputes and should not be held liable for Baldoni’s grievances. The motion marks a significant escalation in Reynolds’ efforts to protect his reputation, which has taken a hit amid the ongoing legal drama. Reputation management expert Ryan McCormick told Fox News in February 2025 that Reynolds’ “nicest guy in Hollywood” image was “taking a little bruising” due to his association with the case, even if indirectly.

The legal battle has not been without its twists. In February, Baldoni’s team launched a website to support his claims, publishing text messages and a timeline of events to counter Lively’s allegations. Lively, in response, secured a court victory on March 13, 2025, when Judge Lewis J. Liman granted her request for an “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” protective order, ensuring that sensitive discovery materials—such as medical records and security measures—would remain confidential to prevent leaks to the press. Liman noted the “insatiable appetite” for information about the case and the risk of “gossip and innuendo” if such details were exposed. Meanwhile, Baldoni’s legal team has faced criticism for litigating in the press, with Liman warning both sides in February to adhere to professional conduct rules or risk an earlier trial date, currently set for May 2026.

The feud has also drawn in other players. Baldoni sued The New York Times for $250 million in December 2024, alleging the paper’s reporting on Lively’s claims was defamatory and relied on “cherry-picked” evidence. Lively, for her part, hired former CIA official Nick Shapiro to advise on legal communications, signaling the intensity of the public relations war. Posts on X reflect a divided public sentiment, with some users accusing Lively and Reynolds of bullying “the small guy,” while others praise their united front, as seen in their recent public appearances at events like the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary celebration in February 2025.

As the legal war rages on, the It Ends With Us saga has become a cautionary tale about power dynamics in Hollywood, the fragility of public personas, and the high stakes of speaking out. For Reynolds, the fight to exit Baldoni’s lawsuit is not just about clearing his name—it’s about shielding his family from a controversy that shows no signs of abating. Whether he succeeds remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: this explosive legal showdown is far from over, and its fallout will likely reverberate through Hollywood for years to come.