Ryan Reynolds has long been known as one of the nicest men in Hollywood. With his witty sense of humour, picture-perfect family life and undeniable charisma both on and off the screen, he seemed incapable of putting a foot wrong.

But now, the actor’s squeaky-clean image is under scrutiny as he faces a huge legal battle after he and wife Blake Lively were sued for defamation by Justin Baldoni. Director Justin – who worked with Blake on 2024 movie It Ends With Us – has accused the couple of trying to ‘destroy’ him with false allegations, after Blake sued him in December with claims of sexual harassment and creating a toxic work environment on the set of the film.

At the time, Blake’s allegations were published, with jaw-dropping evidence included, in the New York Times – prompting Justin to sue the publication in a $250m libel lawsuit, claiming they had cherry-picked texts and other pieces of evidence to twist the narrative.

Justin is now seeking at least $400m for damages, including lost future income. His lawsuit says, ‘This is a case about two of the most powerful stars in the world deploying their enormous power to steal an entire film right out of the hands of its director and production studio. Then, when Lively and Reynolds’ efforts failed to win them the acclaim they believed they so richly deserved, they turned their fury on their chosen scapegoat.’

While the counter-suit – which Blake’s legal team have described as ‘another chapter in the abuser playbook’ – largely focuses on claims against the actress, the 41-year-old has also made a string of bombshell allegations about Ryan.

He’s accused the Deadpool star, 48, of ‘swearing’ at him after Blake, 37, revealed that she felt ‘fat-shamed’ by Justin. She had alleged that he asked her how much she weighed while preparing for a scene in which he lifts her, something he says is ‘entirely and categorically false’. Justin claimed that Ryan was ‘aggressive’ towards him, saying, ‘How dare you f***ing ask about my wife’s weight? What’s wrong with you?’

In another shock claim, Justin says that during a meeting held at the couple’s New York penthouse, Ryan had ‘berated’ him in front of executives and that he had ‘never been spoken to like that in his life’. The lawsuit reads, ‘Reynolds and Lively blindsided the rest of the group with a list of grievances, read aloud by Lively, that were as troubling as they were fictional. Reynolds then launched into an aggressive tirade, berating Baldoni in what Baldoni later described as a “traumatic” encounter. As Baldoni later said, he had never been spoken to like that in his life.’

Ryan is also accused of trying to get Justin dropped from his talent agency. It’s claimed, ‘Baldoni later received word that, during the premiere of his movie Deadpool & Wolverine, Reynolds approached Baldoni’s agency, namely, an executive at WME, and expressed his deep disdain for Baldoni, suggesting the agency was working with a “sexual predator” (a phrase that uncoincidentally later appeared in the press) and, at a later date, demanded that the agent “drop” Baldoni.’

In response to the lawsuit, Blake’s legal team said, ‘This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim.’

The statement added that Justin and his studio, Wayfarer, were ‘trying to shift the narrative to Ms Lively by falsely claiming that she seized creative control and alienated the cast from Mr Baldoni’.

It continued, ‘The evidence will show that the cast and others had their own negative experiences with Mr Baldoni and Wayfarer. The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, it does not refute the evidence in Ms Lively’s complaint, and it will fail.’

Public sparks first flew last August when, during the promotional trail for It Ends With Us, fans noted how strange it was that Justin, who – as well as starring opposite Blake in the film, also directed it – didn’t appear on any red carpets alongside the main cast. At the same time, Blake started getting heat for her ‘tone-deaf’ approach to the publicity of the film about a florist who is abused by her partner, encouraging fans to ‘wear your florals’ to go to the cinema, instead of focusing on the movie’s serious themes of violence and domestic abuse.

Then, old interviews started resurfacing, in which the former Gossip Girl actress appeared to be rude and arrogant. Reports flew that Blake and Justin had fallen out over her attempts to take over production and bring in husband Ryan – who she’s been married to since 2021 and shares children James, 10, Inez, eight, Betty, five, and Olin, one, with – to gain control.

It initially seemed as if Blake was firmly in the right, after the majority of the cast distanced themselves from Justin. Nobody posed with him on the red carpet, nor joined him for joint interviews during the film’s release, and Colleen Hoover – who wrote the book that inspired the film – pledged her allegiance to the actress. Co-stars including Jenny Slate and Brandon Skenlar likewise voiced their support, implicitly putting the blame on Justin in the bitter feud. But all was apparently not what it seemed. According to Justin, Blake – who leveraged her way to producer status – ‘initially refused to permit’ the director to attend the film’s premiere. He added that ‘only after significant pressure did she reluctantly agree’ but ‘under humiliating conditions’, which included making him and his family wait in the basement while she did her photocall. He also said he’d been ‘segregated’ from the main cast and ‘barred’ from the official after-party.

It’s claimed that, following an ‘avalanche of negative media coverage’, Blake and Ryan allegedly demanded that Justin issue a public apology statement that they had put together ‘in order to deflect’ from her bad publicity.

And, after the latest development in the bitter feud, a source tells Closer that Ryan is understandably concerned about how the claims could tarnish his reputation.

‘Ryan is worried to death about this fall out between him, Blake and Justin,’ our insider says. ‘When this drama first started it was a series of small things that Blake didn’t like happening on set. She wanted a bit more influence on things, she wasn’t happy with her script, and she spoke to Justin about all of that. Rather than tell Blake to take a hike, he took her notes and let her make minor changes. The problem was she wanted more and more and more and then decided to rewrite entire parts of the film with the help of Ryan.

‘Then the both of them wanted executive producer titles, and to edit the movie in full. Justin finally said no to them and told Blake she can see what the film looks like when he’s done editing it, and that’s when it all unfolded.’

The source adds, ‘Ryan has worked hard to cultivate a public persona of being the ultimate nice guy. but now he’s feeling worried.’