Ryan Reynolds didn’t pressure agent Justin Baldoni to drop him: WME

A little more than 10 days after deposition Justin Baldonihis agency WME — which also represents him It ends with us co-star Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds — issued a statement insisting that the married stars did not pressure WME to drop Baldoni.

Clarification comes in a day Baldoni sued The New York Timeswhich reported on Lively’s lawsuit in early December 2018 alleging fraud, breach of contract and defamation, saying the publication conspired with Lively’s team to spread an “unverified and self-serving narrative” using “selected and altered messages devoid of necessary context” and ignored evidence that contradicted her claims. Baldoni’s lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday.

The lawsuit alleges that Baldoni learned that Reynolds had approached his agent, WME Deadpool and Wolverine premier and demanded that the representative give up Baldoni.

“Possession of power and influence has become undeniable,” the lawsuit states. “Baldoni and Wayfarer grew increasingly fearful of what Lively and Reynolds were capable of, as their actions seemed intent on destroying Baldoni’s career and personal life.”

Now WME says that what Baldoni claims did not happen.

“In Baldoni’s statement, there is an allegation that Reynolds pressured Agent Baldoni in the Deadpool and Wolverine premiere. This is not true,” the agency said on the eve of the New Year. “The former representative of Baldoni was not present Deadpool and Wolverine Premiere was never pressured by Reynolds or Lively, nor was there any pressure by Reynolds or Lively to drop Baldoni as a client.”

Baldoni was was quickly dropped from WME on Dec. 21, just hours after news broke that Lively had accused him of sexual harassment in a lawsuit filed the day before.

On Tuesday, Lively and Baldoni both filed lawsuits related to their legal battle over Lively’s claims that Baldoni was sexually harassed and that his PR team launched a campaign to undermine her reputation.

In addition to the lawsuit Baldoni v timesBrisk sued Baldon for sexual harassment and organizing a smear campaigndemanding her It ends with us her co-star and director, along with his crew, hatched an attack plan in retaliation for her speaking out about sexual misconduct on the set of a Sony-distributed film based on the Colin Hoover book of the same name.

Lively’s lawsuit, filed in New York federal court, comes 10 days after she filed a legal complaint against Baldoni, alleging harassment and a coordinated effort by Baldoni’s team to destroy her reputation. The suit names Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer, which released It ends with usand public affairs representatives Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, who allegedly helped lead the effort to prosecute Lively.

In her lawsuit, Lively shares numerous claims of inappropriate interactions with Baldoni, producer Jamie Heath and others on set, including claims that Baldoni tried to insert a graphic sex scene without her consent and asked about her and Reynolds’ sex life; that he and Heath pressured her to fake complete nudity for her character’s birth scene; that Baldoni made inappropriate comments to her and in her presence; and that Heath entered her trailer “while she was topless and the makeup artists were removing her makeup” and continued to stare at her despite her telling him to keep his back.

The lawsuit also states that Lively has raised concerns before It ends with us filming began, where Baldoni allegedly improvised “physical intimacy that was not rehearsed, choreographed or discussed with Ms. Lively, without the involvement of an intimacy coordinator.”

The lawsuit also states that Lively tried several times to raise concerns about alleged misconduct by Baldoni and Heath, but the reports often went uninvestigated.