It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni has demanded that Disney holds on to any documents that may reference him following claims Ryan Reynolds used a character in Deadpool & Wolverine to ‘bully’ him.
Baldoni’s request comes amid an ongoing legal battle launched in response to sexual harassment claims lodged by his former co-star, Blake Lively.
Lively has accused Baldoni of exhibiting ‘disturbing behavior’ while they worked together on the 2024 drama movie, as well as allegedly attacking her public image.
Baldoni has denied the allegations, and responded by suing The New York Times for libel over its coverage of Lively’s lawsuit.
Reynolds was pulled into the lawsuit in claims made about his behavior when Baldoni visited his and Lively’s home, as well as in more recent allegations relating to the character of ‘Nicepool’ in Reynolds’ latest Deadpool movie.
In response to the alleged Nicepool link, Baldoni’s lawyers have sent a litigation hold letter to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and Disney CEO Bob Iger which demands they hold on to ‘any and all documents relating to the development of the Nicepool character’ in case Baldoni needs to use them in court.
The letter, which has been seen by PEOPLE, also requests access to ‘communications relating to the development, writing and filming of storylines and scenes featuring Nicepool’.
The legal team is searching for evidence ‘relating to or reflecting a deliberate attempt to mock, harass, ridicule, intimidate or bully Baldoni through the character of Nicepool’, among other subjects.
Also played by Reynolds in Deadpool & Wolverine, Nicepool is a Canadian version of the mercenary who is, as his name suggests, almost frustratingly nice.
The character is depicted as having flawless skin and a thick man bun, and he describes Ladypool, played by Lively, as ‘gorgeous’ in the movie.
In one comment, Nicepool says of Ladypool: “She just had a baby too and you can’t even tell.”
Those familiar with the allegations Lively has launched against Baldoni may recognize an apparent link between this remark and comments allegedly made by Baldoni, who Lively claims found ‘back-channel ways of criticizing her body and weight’ after she and Reynolds welcomed their first child.
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, spoke about the apparent connection between Baldoni and Nicepool in an interview with one of his former clients, Megyn Kelly, on her web show earlier this month.
In the interview, Freedman claimed there was ‘no question’ that Nicepool ‘relates to Justin’.
LADbible Group has reached out to Disney for comment.
