Ryan Reynolds says Justin Baldoni can’t sue him over ‘hurt feelings’ as he attempts to dismiss lawsuit

Ryan Reynolds is arguing Justin Baldoni’s defamation and extortion suit against him has no legs, alleging the actor’s ‘clickbait’ falsehoods stem from ‘hurt feelings’.

On Tuesday (March 18), attorneys of 48-year-old Reynolds filed a memorandum of law in federal court, requesting to dismiss legal claims brought against him by Baldoni, 41, and his production company, Wayfarer Studios.

The Ends with Us star, who acted alongside and directed Reynolds’ wife Blake Lively, 37, submitted a countersuit against the pair on January 16, 2025.

This filing came less than a month after Lively’s original legal complaint was filed on December 20, where the mother-of-four alleged Baldoni behaved inappropriately on the set of the 2024 flick and set up a social media smear campaign against her.

In his $400 million counterclaim, Baldoni alleges Lively ‘hijacked’ It Ends with Us and launched her own ‘calculated and vitriolic smear campaign’ to destroy his career.

The Jane the Virgin actor also claimed Reynolds berated him for allegedly ‘fat-shaming’ Lively, pressured his agency WME to drop him as a client, and called him a ‘sexual predator’.

In the new motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Reynolds’ lawyers argued that the Deadpool actor could not have ‘defamed’ Baldoni if he genuinely believed he is a ‘predator’.

“Allegations suggest that Mr. Reynolds genuinely, perhaps passionately, believes that Mr. Baldoni’s behavior is reflective of a ‘predator,’” the newly-filed motion states, as per Variety.

“(T)he law establishes that calling someone a ‘predator’ amounts to constitutionally protected opinion… While Mr. Baldoni ‘may not appreciate being called’ a predator, those hurt feelings do not give rise to legal claims.”