Native Canadian Ryan Reynolds is making headlines, and this time it’s not for being married to Blake Lively. The actor, born in Vancouver, Canada, spoke with reporters in New York City while promoting his new picture, “Mayday,” waxing nostalgic about the good old days. “The 80s was a brutal, brutal time for people. It was a f*cking mess and people forget that.&#8221; We get you, Ryan from Canada. Totally legit he explained the mindset of the era, the peak year of which — 1986 — he was nine years old, and how the Cuban Missile Crisis and presumably Carter-era inflation and socioeconomic unrest created an aura of general suckiness: “When you get far enough away from a time period that’s quite distinct, there’s always a lovely feeling associated with it, almost like you pave over all the trauma with puppy dogs and ice cream.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Ryan Reynolds says ’80s nostalgia “paves over all the trauma” of the “tumultuous” decade:
“The 80s was a brutal, brutal time for people. It was a fucking mess and people forget that. It was a tremendous strife. Socio political tensions everywhere. We were still pretty fresh off… <a href="https://t.co/CvNE3KLfff">pic.twitter.com/CvNE3KLfff</a>
— Variety (@Variety) <a href="https://x.com/Variety/status/2095288158862844330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Correct. As a child of the ’80s myself, I can see why Reynolds talks so frankly about the deep trauma he experienced; it must have been awful for him living in Canada. But those of us on the cool side of the international border see the decade a whole lot differently — and we don’t chalk it up to puppy dogs and ice cream (though there were plenty of those to go around in the Land of the Free).
We should cut Ryan from Canada a little slack; after all, it probably was difficult to see the <a href="https://www.nhl.com/player/wayne-gretzky-8447400">best</a> that your <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001006/">country</a> has to <a href="https://www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/20091008203/linda-evangelista/">offer</a> in that glorious decade, cut and run from it to the U.S. faster than your health care system is euthanizing old people.
Maybe it was the hair? I admit things got pretty out of control, but there must be a correlation between out-there hair trends and good times. The Roaring ’20s had the bob, the 1950s had beehives, and the 1980s had well, this:
<div id="attachment_1172475" style="width: 682px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1172475" class=" wp-image-1172475" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/GettyImages-823663446.jpg" alt="" width="672" height="448" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/GettyImages-823663446.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/GettyImages-823663446-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/GettyImages-823663446-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/GettyImages-823663446-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px" />Credit: FG/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images.</div>
No one made Ryan get a mullet, but perhaps his delicate, trauma-prone eyes were scandalized by a few flowing dude-cuts while he was practicing his duck-and-cover. Speaking of hockey-hair, 1980 was the year America set the tone for the decade with an absolute banger of a hockey game. Maybe Ryan has heard of it; they did make a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd0_Dm2xlEM">movie</a> about it. And hockey is one of the sports Canadians are fairly decent at, at least when they aren’t <a href="https://people.com/olympics-curling-controversy-everything-to-know-11907915">cheating</a>.
Contrary to Reynold’s misplaced reminiscences, the world wasn’t quite the expletive-laden, smoldering tinderbox he says it was. It was a time when the cracks were showing that would eventually break the Berlin Wall and the U.S.S.R. And sports is a good place to start: we crushed the Reds in Lake Placid to start the decade and by 1986, we held the Goodwill Games, where the American and Russian athletes finally competed in a spirit of well, goodwill, after the back and forth of boycotts and wars. And if you count soccer as a sport, the world did unite in awe at Argentinian Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” and “Goal of the Century” performance at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
But America at that time wasn’t really into sitting around watching soccer. And we weren’t paralyzed with fear at the prospect of nuclear war.
We had a president who played hardball when it counted, and we were secure in the knowledge that America was done fearing its own power. It was that self-confidence that shaped a decade, schlepping its way out of shag carpet conversation pits and striking out on a path that would lead the world out of the grips of communism.
Far from the “tremendous strife” of Reynolds&#8217;s claims, the 1980s were an explosion of innovation-meets-optimism that lacked much of the weirdo-scaredness at the fringes of the 1950s Space Age with its radiation monsters and alien invasions. Instead of Japan’s “Godzilla,” we got Japanese cars and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091159/?ref_=ls_i_5">Gung Ho</a>.” Not every family had a DMC DeLorean parked in the driveway, but new-fangled technology became accessible to millions of American families. Sony released the TPS-L2 in 1980 and teenage culture never had it so good.
By the mid-’80s, that device, popularly known as the Walkman, was selling for $30 for a basic model. Along with color television, homes had Video Home Systems and could rent a videotape on Friday night and return it Sunday on the way home from church (please be kind, good Christians — rewind!). Computer networking was in its infancy, and personal computers were on the consumer horizon.
Not too many high schoolers were at the mall food court discussing the latest statecraft motives of the Kremlin. Rather, a normal American kid was bopping through the mall to his job at the Orange Julius, where he made enough money to fill the gas tank on his 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme with wood grain dash trim and Strato bucket seats, save for a new Swatch watch, and have enough left over to meet his buddies at the arcade and catch “Top Gun” at the movie theater.
Kids rode Huffys down to the dollar store and bought a Coca-Cola. We called each other from landline phones with impossibly long cords that wound around themselves a half dozen times. Your kid sister had a Care Bear, and you played Mario on the NES. Malls were decked out in neon that matched your crushes&#8217; spandex leggings — a hypnotic blur under the pulsing lights of the local roller rink. MTV killed the radio star and Michael Jackson killed the beat. And the only thing worth worrying about was if you could convince your folks to let you see &#8220;The Terminator&#8221; on Friday night.
So, Ryan from Canada, even if what you say is true — that the objective events of the era were pretty busted — the difference is that the people who shaped how those events were reflected in society and the culture at large didn’t wallow in fear or “strife.” They didn’t make the “trauma” their identity. They persisted. They made do — because that’s what Americans are all about, at least they used to in the 1980s, which is what made that time special. Americans put a cassette in the boombox and hit the mall in a rad fluorescent polo, acid-wash jeans, and a pair of wayfarers and never looked back.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0nBr5OqPr2A?si=cElIoX6mFfnXusSA" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
This is the glaring problem with social media and self-absorbed celebs today: they pick up on the doom and gloomers and spread that negative zeitgeist like a Canadian wildfire. People like Ryan want us to think the awesomeness of that era was nothing more than a fuddy-duddy nostalgia pipe dream so that we can’t confidently compare what we had then with what we have now — whatever this is — and lament how much has deteriorated and how much of what we loved then is missing from America now.
Heck, even in the ’90s, just before Reynolds was the rebound guy for Alanis Morissette — the hero of every screaming-at-the-sky Lilith Fair feminist — things were pretty doggone good. In fact, I’d wager good money that Reynolds’s “trauma” might have more to do with living in the shadow of another person or country than a decade that saved us from Earth Shoes and disco and gave us Memphis Milano and Van Halen. “Living out loud” wasn’t just a Body Glove T-Shirt slogan; it was a way of life. And a pretty good one at that.

image_2a2a505d

America’s Excellent ’80s Adventure Was Ryan Reynolds’s Bogus Journey

1980s

cold war

nostalgia

opinion

popular culture

ryan reynolds

The Venice Film Festival is happening right now, and that means that many of the best and brightest people in the universe have something to say.
George Clooney was there talking about how we&#8217;re experiencing difficult times in the United States. He said:
<blockquote>We&#8217;ve had some other difficult times, but this is one of them. There&#8217;s a great word, kakistocracy, which is a country run by the least qualified people. I think maybe we have a kakistocracy right now, but we&#8217;ll get through it, and we will have an election in November that should be a check and balance. And then in 2028, with any luck, we&#8217;ll have some restoration.</blockquote>
He says that American politics is a joke, but don&#8217;t worry, we&#8217;ll get through it.
Thank you, George Clooney. I was truly worried. I need your guidance. I need George Clooney, who&#8217;s very, very wealthy, to tell me that it&#8217;s actually the rich people who are somehow betraying us.
I&#8217;m always bewildered by this particular argument, because most of the people I know who are rich were not rich at some point in their lives, and they&#8217;ve been the same people the whole time.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ben-shapiro-show-ep-2499?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-981859" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-768x128.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
This is the kind of class-based distinction people want to make in America, but it really applies more to old Europe.
There was a time when I made a lot less money. I&#8217;m the same person; nothing changed. I just have more money now.
But to George Clooney, people with the most money are the ones who are telling us to fear one another.
This is so tiresome. You are a man with tons of money telling us we need to fear one another. Do you own a mirror? You&#8217;re very rich. You can afford a mirror.
“We&#8217;re living through a moment in time where people in charge of the people with the most money are telling us to fear one another, fear one another,” he declared. “But we know better than that, don&#8217;t we? Because history does teach us a lesson. It teaches us something. The first people that authoritarians try to shut down are not politicians. They&#8217;re journalists who ask questions. They&#8217;re the artists who refuse simple answers that the filmmakers, writers, actors and musicians &#8230;”
Oh, it&#8217;s the artists who bring us together. That&#8217;s who brings us together, with films that label half the American population horrible and film festivals that refuse to acknowledge the existence of other worldviews.
Ryan Reynolds is getting overtly political because he happens to be in Venice. He said:
<blockquote>What&#8217;s interesting about when you get far enough away from a time period that&#8217;s quite distinct, I think there&#8217;s always a lovely feeling associated with it. It&#8217;s almost like you pave over all the trauma with, like, puppy dogs and ice cream. And the &#8217;80s was a brutal, brutal time for people. It was a f*cking mess. And like, you know, people forget that that was like that was a tremendous strife, socio-political tensions everywhere. 
You know, we&#8217;re still like, pretty fresh off, like a Cuban missile crisis, which is only like, what, 15, 20 years before. So, you know, it&#8217;s a tumultuous period. But you look back at it now and you&#8217;re like, “Oh yeah, Top Gun cocaine.” Like. No, it was like really scary.</blockquote>
The 1980s? You don&#8217;t remember them properly. Sure, the 1980s were great, but you just don’t remember. Ryan Reynolds remembers it really well, and he&#8217;ll tell you all about it.
Maggie Gyllenhaal, who is on the board of the Venice Film Festival, said one of the great tragedies of filmmaking right now is that it&#8217;s very hard for women to get their films financed.
Let&#8217;s be abundantly clear. It is very difficult for anyone to get a film financed because film is expensive.
May we point out that Maggie Gyllenhaal has had films financed that are some of the worst films in human history? What was Maggie Gyllenhaal’s latest film?
Hmmm&#8230; Her last film, &#8220;The Bride,&#8221; is one of the worst movies ever made. Ever.
It had a huge cast with Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley and a budget of $80-$90 million.
It made $24 million at the box office.
Lady, I&#8217;m pretty sure if it&#8217;s hard for you to get financed, it&#8217;s because you financed a project to the tune of $80-$90 million that made $24 million at the box office.
That budget is just for the film. That does not include what&#8217;s called P&amp;A, meaning the print and advertising campaign, which is usually as much as the budget. So that movie probably cost at least $150 million and made $24 million at the box office.
And then she&#8217;s asking, “Why won&#8217;t anyone fund me?”
I don&#8217;t know, but perhaps it’s because somebody could find a better way to flush $120 million down the toilet.
Speaking of women who complain about not getting role offers, Elliot Page is now complaining, which I think is contradictory. Elliot Page, a woman cosplaying as a man, says “he” has not received any role offers since &#8220;The Odyssey.&#8221;
There&#8217;s a reason for that. Page was not very good in &#8220;The Odyssey.&#8221; Elliot Page was supposed to be playing a young man who dies in a war, and it didn&#8217;t work because Elliot Page looks like a 110-pound woman.
I have been informed that it&#8217;s very hard for women to get jobs. But Hollywood has told me that Elliot Page is a man.
I don&#8217;t get it. Where&#8217;s the sexism working in favor of Elliot Page? Where is it? I&#8217;m confused.
Hollywood. A place where brain cells go to die.

ben-newsletter-hollywood

They’ve Completely Lost The Plot

elliot page

george clooney

maggie gyllenhaal

venice film festival

Leave it to Hollywood’s Ryan Reynolds to deliver a lecture on the &#8220;trauma&#8221; of the 1980s.
Promoting his new Apple TV movie &#8220;Mayday,&#8221; in which he plays a Navy pilot befriending an &#8217;80s-obsessed ex-KGB agent, Reynolds decided to rain all over America’s favorite decade, calling it a “brutal, brutal time” and a “f*cking mess.”
According to Reynolds, everyone today just remembers the decade for “&#8217;Top Gun&#8217; and cocaine,” conveniently forgetting the “tremendous strife” and “socio-political tensions.” He even stumbled through some bizarre timeline logic, claiming the era was “pretty fresh off like a Cuban missile crisis.” The Cuban Missile Crisis happened in 1962, well over two decades before Reynolds was busy not growing up in America.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Ryan Reynolds says ’80s nostalgia “paves over all the trauma” of the “tumultuous” decade:
“The 80s was a brutal, brutal time for people. It was a fucking mess and people forget that. It was a tremendous strife. Socio political tensions everywhere. We were still pretty fresh off… <a href="https://t.co/CvNE3KLfff">pic.twitter.com/CvNE3KLfff</a>
&mdash; Variety (@Variety) <a href="https://x.com/Variety/status/2095288158862844330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The &#8220;Free Guy&#8221; actor didn&#8217;t even live in the U.S. during the 1980s.
Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Reynolds didn&#8217;t immigrate to the States until the mid-1990s — after high school. But that didn&#8217;t stop him from dropping a master class in retconning American history.
Naturally, patriotic Americans who actually lived through the neon-drenched decade weren&#8217;t having any of Reynolds&#8217; Hollywood revisionism.
Conservative commentator Dan Bongino wasted no time tearing into the movie star&#8217;s hot take, firing back that Reynolds &#8220;doesn’t know jack sh*t about the 1980s in America.&#8221;
&#8220;I was a teenager when the ’80s ended, and it was an INCREDIBLE time to be alive,&#8221; Bongino declared, listing off iconic hallmarks of the era like President Reagan’s monster economic growth, the Miracle on Ice, pre-woke MTV, &#8220;Indiana Jones,&#8221; and the glorious fall of the Berlin Wall. &#8220;No social-media rage farming&#8230; Friends don’t let friends fall for Hollywood propaganda. God bless America — and God bless the ’80s!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This dude doesn’t know jack shit about the 1980s in America—and Jack left town.
I was a teenager when the ’80s ended, and it was an INCREDIBLE time to be alive.
No social-media rage farming. The Miracle on Ice kicked off the decade, and the Berlin Wall and communism came… <a href="https://t.co/H8tHRJ0Yi1">https://t.co/H8tHRJ0Yi1</a>
&mdash; Dan Bongino (@dbongino) <a href="https://x.com/dbongino/status/2095492422117507319?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Former ESPN anchor Sage Steele echoed the sentiment, calling Reynolds&#8217; commentary &#8220;another swing and miss.&#8221; Steele pointed out that the 1980s were &#8220;special&#8221; and &#8220;innocent&#8221; compared to the modern madness kids are subjected to today.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
YESSS. It was special. And innocent … esp compared to today and what our children witness and are subjected to. Another swing and miss by Ryan Reynolds. <a href="https://t.co/GWQDGo1ZeK">https://t.co/GWQDGo1ZeK</a>
&mdash; Sage Steele (@sagesteele) <a href="https://x.com/sagesteele/status/2095503743202594976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Maybe Reynolds should stick to playing comic book antiheroes and pumping his gin brand instead of trying to play historian.

MixCollage-03-Sep-2026-12-52-PM-7546

Ryan Reynolds Has A Problem With Our ’80s Nostalgia

1980s nostalgia

dan bongino

entertainment

mayday

sage steele

Fans are coming after actor Ryan Reynolds for his admission that his 7-year-old daughter, Inez, was supposed to make a sexually explicit joke as part of her role in the 2023 Marvel film “Deadpool &amp; Wolverine.”
The 48-year-old actor, who shares Inez and two other daughters with actress Blake Lively, discussed what happened on the commentary track for the movie’s Deadpool Corps scene, per <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniesoteriou/ryan-reynolds-backlash-daughter-sexual-deadpool-joke">Buzzfeed</a>.
The scene in question features Inez playing a small child wearing a Deadpool mask, hoodie, and red pants. She was originally supposed to shout at Reynold’s character “Hey, when I want your opinion, I’ll take Wolverine’s d**k out of your mouth.”
While discussing the scene, Reynolds said his child originally didn’t feel comfortable saying the line.
“Guiltily, that is my daughter Inez,” the actor says in the commentary, prompting the film’s director Shawn Levy to reply, “I’m so sorry we have to admit that.”
“I am father of the year over here for allowing her to say such language, which, to her credit, she really didn’t want to say,” Reynolds added. “And then [she] came back later and said: ‘I want to say it now,’ when I started looking at other people to play it.”
Levy followed up by revealing that the child had to say other inappropriate things while filming the movie. “Yeah, but Ryan, to our discredit, we made Nezzy say — I’m not sh***ing you — 70 to 500 versions of that line,” the director said.
“Yeah, I’m gonna pay for that later,” Reynolds said.
Per a <a href="https://assets.debut.disney.com/documents/Deadpool_Book_Single_Pages.pdf">script</a> of the movie on Disney, the line was changed to, “Hey! When we want your opinion, I’ll take my d*** out of your mouth!”
Nicepool, a variation of Deadpool, then replies, “That’s Kidpool. He’s the dirtiest.”
This back and forth is getting a lot of reactions online, which many social media users voicing their disgust that Reynolds would permit his young child to say those lines.
“There’s no reason she needed to deliver that line herself. It’s a character with a mask and no visible mouth, it could easily have been dubbed over,” one Reddit user noted.
“Or just remove the line completely,” another person responded in the thread. “If a comedy writer can’t make an equally funny line that an actor feels comfortable saying maybe they shouldn’t be a writer.”
“A little innocent girl that doesn&#8217;t even understand the depth of these words. She changed her mind bc he looked into someone else doing the part. I want to cry,” an X user <a href="https://x.com/Mistie_Mo/status/1905021227946721460">wrote</a>.
“It’s horrifying. This was the original line she didn’t want to say and they tortured her by making her say this and other ones over and over,” another person chimed in.
Reynolds is currently involved in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ryan-reynolds-files-motion-to-dismiss-baldoni-lawsuit-claims-hes-suing-over-hurt-feelings">legal battle</a> with Lively’s former “It Ends With Us” co-star, Justin Baldoni. The couple accused him of defamation and other allegations, which prompted Baldoni to countersue for $400 million. A trial has been scheduled for March 2026.
Baldoni also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/justin-baldoni-demands-disney-retain-nicepool-docs-says-ryan-reynolds-was-mocking-him">asserts</a> that the “Nicepool” character was made as a way of mocking him.

Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds Under Fire For Having Young Daughter Say Sexually Explicit Line In ‘Deadpool’ Movie

Celebrities

hollywood

Movies

U.S.

Actor Ryan Reynolds, husband of “It Ends With Us” star Blake Lively, has filed a motion to dismiss Justin Baldoni’s claims that the actor was mocking him via the use of the character “Nicepool” in “Deadpool &amp; Wolverine.” 
Baldoni and Lively have been involved in a legal back and forth which is scheduled to culminate in a joint trial sometime next year. However, Reynolds was pulled into the fray as Baldoni claimed that Lively’s husband was making fun of him, which he asserted was proof that neither party took Lively’s sexual harassment claims seriously.
Baldoni sued Lively and Reynolds, alleging that they were trying to destroy his career with false allegations. The lawsuit also said Reynolds had verbally berated Baldoni for allegedly “fat shaming” Lively. 
The motion to dismiss states that defamation charges are not valid if Reynolds believes what he has asserted about Baldoni, per a report from <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/news/ryan-reynolds-justin-baldoni-lawsuit-hurt-feelings-1236340790/">Variety</a>.
The “allegations suggest that Mr. Reynolds genuinely, perhaps passionately, believes that Mr. Baldoni’s behavior is reflective of a ‘predator,&#8217;” the motion states. “(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.”
“Mr. Reynolds has a First Amendment right to hold Mr. Baldoni — or any man who Mr. Reynolds believes sexually harassed his wife — in ‘deep disdain,&#8217;” the motion says. “It is, in essence, a burn book filled with grievances attempting to shame Mr. Reynolds for being the kind of man who is ‘confident enough to listen’ to the woman in his life and to hold her ‘anguish and actually’ stand with her.”
Reynold’s legal team also uses Baldoni’s past admissions of wrongdoing as proof that Reynolds should have a negative opinion of him. 
The motion states, “It would be perverse to permit Mr. Baldoni to build an entire brand — complete with a podcast, Ted Talk, and books — off of his confessions of repeatedly mistreating women, only to turn around and sue Mr. Reynolds for $400 million for simply pointing out in private what Mr. Baldoni has bragged about in public.”
Baldoni also has a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/justin-baldoni-files-250m-libel-lawsuit-against-nyt-over-blake-lively-report">$250 million lawsuit</a> pending against The New York Times for the publication of an article that he claims was “rife with inaccuracies, misrepresentations, and omissions.”
The suit accuses the NYT of failing to exhibit “journalistic integrity” because the article’s writers “relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative, lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives.”

Ryan Reynolds Files Motion To Dismiss Baldoni Lawsuit, Claims He’s Suing Over ‘Hurt Feelings’

Ryan Reynolds Files Motion To Dismiss Baldoni Lawsuit, Claims He's Suing Over 'Hurt Feelings'

Blake Lively

lawsuit

The following is an edited transcript of an interview with Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham and Daily Mail columnist Maureen Callahan on the growing, public PR battle between actress Blake Lively and film director Justin Baldoni. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/blake-lively-and-justin-baldoni-s-epic-hollywood-battle-2-8-25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Catch the full interview on Morning Wire</a>.
* * *
Actress Blake Lively and director Justin Baldoni are continuing their public feud over their hit film, &#8220;It Ends With Us,&#8221; with both sides filing lawsuits. But even more than a legal battle, this has become an all-out PR war with leaked texts, calls, and film footage, as well as allegations of sexual harassment and spousal jealousy. The first trial date is set for March. Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham speaks with award-winning journalist, author and Daily Mail columnist Maureen Callahan to get insight into a drama only Hollywood could produce.
MEGAN: Thanks for being here, Maureen. So, especially for those of us who are kind of catching up with this story, I&#8217;m wondering if you can give us the 10,000 foot summary of this scandal?
MAUREEN: Sure. So about a month ago, the New York Times ran a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/21/business/media/blake-lively-justin-baldoni-it-ends-with-us.html?searchResultPosition=9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blockbuster</a>, I think 4,000 word piece, in which Blake Lively was alleging her director and co-star Justin Baldoni, on their film “It Ends With Us,” had subjected her to almost ritualistic sexual harassment — and that she suffered so greatly, it was a concerted effort in which he involved multiple people to not only harass her while filming, but then once the movie was about to be released, orchestrated an online smear campaign against her. A couple of weeks later, Baldoni&#8217;s lawyer, Bryan Freedman filed a countersuit in which he alleged that the text messages obtained by the New York Times had been selectively edited. They sort of threw open their document dump, which seemed to absolve Justin of many of the things that Lively has been claiming. Nonetheless, these two are now locked in a bitter, bitter, expensive lawsuit. Baldoni is countersuing Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds for $400 million, which is, I believe, what he thinks their estimated net worth is. And the trial is tentatively set for March 2026.
MEGAN: So, before we get to some of the legal ramifications, there have obviously been a lot of leaks, a lot of shifting in public loyalties back and forth. At least that&#8217;s been my experience. At the outset, I was kind of on Team Justin. And then I thought, “Well, wait a minute. That New York Times piece was really persuasive.” But then Justin Baldoni&#8217;s team released some new audio leaks and they sort of shifted the game a little bit. What&#8217;s your sense right now of who&#8217;s on top in the PR war?
MAUREEN: I think Blake Lively is suffering mightily right now and the collateral fallout is affecting not just her husband, Ryan Reynolds, but her so called “Dragon,” her BFF Taylor Swift, who it&#8217;s reported has been taking a step back from her friendship with Blake because she doesn&#8217;t want any of this runoff affecting her career. Justin&#8217;s team has been very smart in what they&#8217;re leaking and when. They leaked footage of the two of them while filming a scene, rehearsing a scene, in which they were dancing very closely and Justin had his mic on. And so they&#8217;re working out how they&#8217;re going to do this scene. Justin is saying, “I think we should be kissing.” And Blake says, “No, I think we should be talking. I think that&#8217;s even more intimate.” And Justin says, “Okay.” So that sort of takes some wind out of her sails. They also released another lengthy voice memo that Justin had sent to Blake in which he&#8217;s praising her to the high heavens and saying he has let her down by not taking all of her notes, and she&#8217;s so brilliant and so smart, and he&#8217;s going to do everything he can to make her happy. Again, a counter narrative to Lively&#8217;s claims that he was doing everything possible to sabotage her and make her feel unsafe on that set. So I think right now Baldoni&#8217;s team is in the power position, but that of course could shift in another few days.
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/it-ends-with-us-in-court-2-8-25/id1576594336?i=1000690394738" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
MEGAN: Well, you know, it seems like there was a moment where Lively could have disengaged and, and just moved on. And this would have been something of a blip on Hollywood&#8217;s gossip radar. Why do you think she escalated to a lawsuit that opened up so much more of these internal communications?
MAUREEN: This is such a great question, Megan, because if you think about it the damage has already been done to her. Think about it, there are like five female directors working in Hollywood today. What male director is going to put himself and his career and reputation at risk by working with Blake Lively, who launched this all out assault on a guy who is not as well capitalized as she and Ryan are, who doesn&#8217;t have the reputation, the lengthy career — who on earth would risk it? And I have to wonder why she did it, because like you said, it could have just been, you know, a thing where they butted heads, they didn&#8217;t see eye-to-eye, but they each walked away clean to do their next project. I have a theory — and it is just my own theory and supposition — that something went on between these two. Perhaps it was an unrequited crush on Blake&#8217;s part and Justin didn&#8217;t respond in kind; perhaps they did in some way have a physical relationship outside of the filming and that went south. There&#8217;s something about this that just feels way too intense, way too personal. I think the real undergirding, the real story is why she did this.
<div id="attachment_873967" style="width: 860px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-873967" class="size-large wp-image-873967" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-1928882045-850x576.jpg" alt="JERSEY CITY, NJ - JANUARY 12: Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively are seen on the set of 'It Ends with Us' on January 12, 2024 in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)" width="850" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-1928882045-850x576.jpg 850w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-1928882045-300x203.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-1928882045-768x521.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-1928882045.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px" />Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images</div>
MEGAN: Well, I&#8217;m glad that you bring that up, because I do want to talk a little bit about those messages between Baldoni and Lively. And I know some media outlets characterize them as “flirty,” I don&#8217;t know that I necessarily saw them that way, but I at least saw them as very familiar, let&#8217;s put it that way.
MAUREEN: I kind of read them as flirty — even the text messages between Justin and Ryan Reynolds. Look, if anybody listening wants to get a taste of what it&#8217;s like to deal with Hollywood people, this is it. And it&#8217;s really quite vile because they&#8217;re just mooning over each other. I mean, they&#8217;ve just met and Ryan hasn&#8217;t responded to Justin&#8217;s text for two weeks and then he replies and says, “I happen to adore you, Justin.” It&#8217;s like, buy me dinner first before you start talking to me like this. It&#8217;s disgusting. And, you know, Justin and Blake are having a very familiar texting relationship that, whether they were that familiar, whether it was this sort of hastened intimacy because they were working so closely together so quickly, who knows? But now we&#8217;re going to see. I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s any slight that&#8217;s not going to be weaponized. I just read an item yesterday that Blake Lively blew a good chunk of the movie&#8217;s budget on her wardrobe. I mean, this is how petty we&#8217;re going to get. I love it, but it is the strangest Hollywood war. I&#8217;m going to say it&#8217;s maybe the biggest one since Brad versus Angie.
MEGAN: Do you think Lively and Reynolds, at least as a couple, their image — like maybe Reynolds individually, Lively individually — do kind of come back from this? Because, you know, Brad and Angelina eventually did. But does their image as this blissful “It” couple bounce back?
MAUREEN: Well, Megan, first of all, when I said Brad versus Angie, I meant like when they divorced, when they separated, and it was like the bombshells were going off: “He was abusive. She was out of her mind.” This will be the thing that shows the strength of their marriage. I&#8217;m very cynical, so I really do believe that if this blowback against Blake gets to be too much, Ryan&#8217;s going to cut her loose. I think Ryan Reynolds has his eyes firmly set on becoming a billionaire, and I believe he&#8217;ll get there. And I don&#8217;t think he&#8217;s going to stand for his reputation getting muddied in all of this, even though he&#8217;s already in it with these lawsuits and all of these text messages and these documents. And he was famously brought in by Blake to write a whole scene in the movie and be some sort of unpaid advisor. So I think that&#8217;s really where you&#8217;re going to see the strength of this countersuit against Justin, if it really does sort of crater their marriage.
MEGAN: Well, maybe just a couple more questions, Maureen. One of them is that The New York Times has come under a lot of scrutiny for the role it played in sort of rehabilitating Lively&#8217;s claims when she was on the outs in terms of public affection. I have seen some claims that they handled the coverage in a biased way, clearly working hand in glove with Blake Lively&#8217;s team. What do you think? Is there any validity to that claim?
MAUREEN: Yes, I think there is. It seems as though, perhaps, they didn&#8217;t do their full due diligence. I think it was probably seen, initially, as a strength, but is now a liability. I forget how many bylines were on that piece, but one, Megan Twohey, was one half of the team at the Times that broke the Harvey Weinstein story and became synonymous with MeToo. They wrote a book. They made a lot of money off of it. And I think the Times is already struggling in many ways reputationaly and this does not help. If I recall correctly, I could be mistaken so forgive me, but if I recall correctly I think they went to Baldoni&#8217;s team and gave them two hours to respond to that laundry list of accusations. So if that&#8217;s true, it&#8217;s not a great look. [NOTE: <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/news/justin-baldoni-lawsuit-blake-lively-ryan-reynolds-nicepool-new-york-times-metadata-1236293856/">Some outlets</a> report The New York Times gave Baldoni approximately 12 hours to respond.]
<div id="attachment_873969" style="width: 804px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-873969" class="size-large wp-image-873969" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-1925904572-794x576.jpg" alt="JERSEY CITY, NJ - JANUARY 12: Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are seen on the set of &quot;It Ends with Us&quot; on January 12, 2024 in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)" width="794" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-1925904572-794x576.jpg 794w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-1925904572-300x218.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-1925904572-768x557.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-1925904572.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 794px) 100vw, 794px" />Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images</div>
MEGAN: Well, you kind of intuited where I was going to go next. And that was the role that MeToo has played in this, with these claims, that it was a sexual harassment issue. So, do you think on a broader level, the tide has turned? And maybe this is because of Johnny Depp. Because before, I think there was a period of time when even the public was willing to say, “Hey, I don&#8217;t know that that&#8217;s a MeToo allegation.” I&#8217;m thinking of something like Aziz Ansari where there was a lot of back and forth debate about that. In this case, it seems like some of these men in Hollywood who don&#8217;t even possess the power of some of these women are now willing to challenge these MeToo allegations. So, do you think this sort of shifts the balance on where we are with MeToo?
MAUREEN: Yes, I think this case is very important in terms of where we are and where we&#8217;re going. I agree with you. The Aziz Ansari thing was ridiculous. If that allegation had come out maybe a year later, his career would not have been destroyed. I think we are now seeing a pendulum swing back towards sanity where just because a woman says a man did something to her, it&#8217;s not automatically received as gospel, that the man does get a chance to tell his side of the story and back it up with documents, receipts, screenshots, texts, voicemail, and it certainly helps when you have movie footage. So I think this is going to be an interesting case in terms of the cultural corrective that is underway.
MEGAN: Okay. Well, last question: Any predictions for the March trial?
MAUREEN: You know, I&#8217;ll be amazed if it gets there. Because I would think saner heads would prevail, and both sides should really just drop it and walk away. Justin Baldoni&#8217;s lawyer has already said he&#8217;s pretty much bankrupted by this, financially and emotionally. I don&#8217;t know what good it does for Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds to have this be the headline of their careers for the next calendar year, and that&#8217;s just to start. So, I think it&#8217;ll be interesting to see if it ever really comes to fruition, and if there is some sort of settlement reached, who pays who? This is really just Hollywood writ large, right? The egotism, the narcissism, the ridiculous sums of money, the victimization, the weaponization perhaps, we don&#8217;t know yet, but perhaps of MeToo, it&#8217;s such a great, weird stew of stuff.
MEGAN: Well, thank you Maureen. That was enlightening. I kind of can&#8217;t wait to see where this goes next.
MAUREEN: I know, it&#8217;s like every day we get another tidbit. Yes, thanks for having me.
* * *
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/blake-lively-and-justin-baldoni-s-epic-hollywood-battle-2-8-25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Catch the full interview on Morning Wire</a>.

Celebrity Sightings In Jersey City – January 12, 2024

‘Way Too Personal’: The Escalating PR War Between Blake Lively And Justin Baldoni

actress

film

interview

MeToo

Morning Wire

sexual harassment

the new york times

Justin Baldoni’s lawyer has reached out to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/disney">Disney</a>, requesting that the company retain all documents pertaining to the development of the Nicepool character in “Deadpool &amp; Wolverine.” 
The 40-year-old director of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/entertainment">It Ends With Us</a>” claims that the character was modeled after him as a mockery, which helps prove his allegation that Blake Lively’s lawsuits against him are exaggerations. 
Baldoni’s co-star, Blake Lively, filed an 80-page <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/lawsuit">lawsuit</a> against Baldoni in December, accusing him of sexual harassment, retaliation, and attempting to “destroy” her reputation. The director responded by announcing his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/never-witnessed-such-unethical-behavior-blake-livelys-co-star-countersues">intention to countersue</a> Lively, saying the actress engaged in “unethical behavior,” and intentionally misrepresented interactions to make Baldoni look guilty. 
Baldoni also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/justin-baldoni-files-250m-libel-lawsuit-against-nyt-over-blake-lively-report">sued</a> The New York Times for $250 million in a defamation claim for an article about the drama, which he says is “rife with inaccuracies, misrepresentations, and omissions.”
Baldoni&#8217;s attorney, Bryan Freedman, sent a notice to Disney CEO Bob Iger, Marvel president Kevin Feige, and “Deadpool” director Tim Miller advising them that there were “anticipated claims” coming against Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds, per <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/news/justin-baldoni-legal-letter-disney-marvel-nicepool-ryan-reynolds-1236274162/">Variety</a>. 
The execs were instructed to preserve “any and all documents relating to the development of the ‘Nicepool’ character” as well as “communications relating to the development, writing, and filming of storylines and scenes featuring ‘Nicepool.’” 
The letter demanded that the studio retain “all documents relating to or reflecting a deliberate attempt to mock, harass, ridicule, intimidate, or bully Baldoni through the character of  &#8216;Nicepool.&#8217;”
Baldoni and his attorney claim that Reynolds was mocking Baldoni in “Deadpool &amp; Wolverine” via the character Nicepool, a knockoff version of the film’s protagonist Deadpool. The character has a man bun, which is a hairstyle Baldoni has worn, and refers to himself as a feminist, which Baldoni has also done publicly.
Disney released &#8220;Deadpool &amp; Wolverine&#8221; in July, during filming for “It Ends With Us.”
Some of Nicepool’s lines include, “Where in God’s name is the intimacy coordinator?!” and complimenting another character, Ladypool, for “snapping back” into shape after giving birth. Baldoni and his attorney say these are poorly veiled references to occurrences on the “It Ends With Us” set, which were mentioned in Lively’s lawsuit.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl=1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA.." target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl%3D1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA..&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1737044249231000&amp;usg=AOvVaw15fpgzSqdekU8AKrqgMU6V">CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT</a>
In the end credits of “Deadpool &amp; Wolverine,” the actor who plays Nicepool is listed as “Gordon Reynolds,” the outlet noted, which is<a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1412199/blake-livelys-it-ends-with-us-credits-hint-at-deadpool-wolverine-connection"> reportedly</a> an alias for Ryan Reynolds. Lively thanked Gordon Reynolds in the end credits of “It Ends With Us.” 
Reynolds is a writer, producer, and star of “Deadpool” but has never confirmed the connection between Baldoni and Nicepool. Fans have speculated that the character is based on Baldoni since the film’s release. 
Freedman discussed the similarities between his client and the character during an appearance on “The Megyn Kelly Show” last week. He said the inclusion of Nicepool undermined Lively and Reynold’s claims of sexual harassment. 
“There’s no question it relates to Justin. I mean, anybody that watched that hair bun,” Freedman told Kelly. “If somebody is seriously sexually harassed, you don’t make fun of it. It’s a serious issue,” he said.

Justin Baldoni Demands Disney Retain ‘Nicepool’ Docs, Says Ryan Reynolds Was Mocking Him

Justin Baldoni Demands Disney Retain 'Nicepool' Docs, Says Ryan Reynolds Was Mocking Him

courts

disney

Actor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ryan-reynolds">Ryan Reynolds</a> is being mocked on social media for claiming that he and his wife, fellow Hollywood celebrity <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">Blake Lively</a>, come from “working-class” backgrounds.
The 48-year-old initially made the comments as part of an <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/ryan-reynolds-interview-boy-band-film-ads-deadpool-1236085447/">interview</a> with The Hollywood Reporter. That piece was published on December 13, but the remark went viral after it surfaced on the official <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DDsLqrkRAod/?hl=en">Instagram</a> account for The Cut magazine on Wednesday.
Reynolds had been discussing how he and Lively try to give their four children “as normal a life as possible” despite being rich and famous.
“I try not to impose upon them the difference in their childhood to my childhood or my wife’s childhood,” the Canadian actor told THR. “We both grew up very working class, and I remember when they were very young, I used to say or think, like, ‘Oh God, I would never have had a gift like this when I was a kid,’ or, ‘I never would’ve had this luxury of getting takeout,’ or whatever.”
“Then I realized that that’s not really their bag of rocks to carry,” Reynolds added.
These statements are causing backlash mostly because Lively is understood to be one of the most infamous “nepo baby” stars who grew up in the industry. The actress’s father, Ernie, is an actor and director, while her mother, Elaine, works as a talent manager. All four of Lively’s other siblings are also working actors.
Commenters on Instagram made fun of Reynold’s claim.
“Quick search: She grew up in Tarzana and then went to Burbank High. Her whole family was in the entertainment business. She was cast in Sisterhood for the Traveling Pants while she was a teen. It’s giving at least middle class [vibes],” one person wrote. “Anyway none of that matters [because] she’s rich and insufferable now.”
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
“More and more I’m learning that rich people say ‘working class’ when they mean ‘had a salary,’” a second agreed.
“Just because her parents worked, doesn’t make them working class,” a third agreed.
This isn’t the first time a celebrity got called out for identifying as working class. Soccer star David Beckham <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/be-honest-david-beckham-chastises-wife-victoria-for-saying-she-grew-up-working-class">corrected his wife</a>, Victoria, when she claimed to come from a “working class” background during an episode of their Netflix special that aired last October. 
She said, “I think also we both come from families that work really hard. Both of our parents work very hard, we’re very working class.”
David interrupted from the next room and corrected his wife, urging her to “Be honest!”
“I am being honest,” Victoria said. Then David pushed her and asked, “What car did your dad drive you to school in?”
Several people echoed the “Be honest” line in response to Reynold’s latest comments about Lively.

Blake Lively Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds Trashed For Claiming Wife Blake Lively Grew Up ‘Very Working Class’

Ryan Reynolds Trashed For Claiming Wife Blake Lively Grew Up 'Very Working Class'

The once-mighty MCU has fallen and it can’t get up.
Even non-Comic Con types know the Marvel Cinematic Universe no longer lords over Hollywood. Last year’s mega-flop, “The Marvels,” put an exclamation mark on that sorry state of affairs. The film made $206 million globally compared to the $1.1 billion the original earned four years prior.
Could Ryan Reynolds and his foul-mouthed alter ego, Deadpool, bring the MCU back from the cinematic grave? He might, assuming the powers that be follow the Reynolds Method, a heady blend of marketing ingenuity and old-fashioned charm.
<div id="attachment_703727" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-703727" class="size-large wp-image-703727" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/GettyImages-1097203790-384x576.jpg" alt="BEIJING, CHINA - JANUARY 20: Actor Ryan Reynolds attends the premiere of 'Deadpool 2' at Park Hyatt Hotel on January 20, 2019 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Visual China Group via Getty Images/Visual China Group via Getty Images)" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/GettyImages-1097203790-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/GettyImages-1097203790-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/GettyImages-1097203790.jpg 683w" sizes=" (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" />Visual China Group via Getty Images</div>
The next big MCU film drops this summer. Reynolds returns as the “Merc with a Mouth” in “Deadpool &amp; Wolverine,” out July 26. The film unites the unlikely mutants in an R-rated romp that got Comic Con nation all hot and bothered.
The film’s trailer generated 365 million views in just one day, a record number significantly boosted by its <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/deadpool-wolverine-most-watched-movie-trailer-1235823882/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Super Bowl exposure</a>. It’s still a staggering sum, suggesting the core characters retain plenty of audience goodwill.
And rightly so.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Deadpool &amp; Wolverine | Official Teaser | In Theaters July 26" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uJMCNJP2ipI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Hugh Jackman, AKA Wolverine, is a talented star who rarely meddles in divisive matters. He’s an old-school actor who just wants to “put on a show,” and his eclectic film choices bear that out, down to his turn in 2017’s “The Greatest Showman.”
It’s still Reynolds’ franchise.
The “Deadpool &amp; Wolverine” trailer’s gazillion views matter, but the film&#8217;s strength goes beyond that. Reynolds is the kind of apolitical, marketing savvy star that Disney desperately needs at this point in the MCU.
It’s about brand renewal as much as a stellar product.
Reynolds has mostly stayed above the political fray over the years. Yes, he did <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/ryan-reynolds-blake-lively-apologize-plantation-themed-wedding-n1235770" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the “hostage-style&#8221; apology</a> after learning the venue where he married actress Blake Lively had plantation ties from long ago.
The mea culpa came eight years after the ceremony and, more importantly, months after George Floyd’s death following an altercation with Minneapolis police.
The couple even bent the fiscal knee, donating $200,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to assuage their guilt.
Otherwise, the actor mostly stays above the partisan fray.
Reynolds shared an “I Voted” photograph on Election Day three-plus years ago but refused <a href="https://twitter.com/VancityReynolds/status/1319769201914089472?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to say his presidential choice</a>. He previously admitted to being “terrified” by the thought of a Trump presidency, but he didn’t make his views so obvious that they became part of his persona.
He’s the un-Robert De Niro.
Reynolds is endlessly funny on film, leaning hard into his wiseacre brand. That’s never been more true than with the Deadpool character. He’s taken it very seriously behind-the-scenes, constantly connecting with fans and taking a personal stake in the character.
The New York Times called him the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/movies/ryan-reynolds-deadpool-2.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“driving force”</a> behind the franchise, and few dispute it. That spirit extends beyond the film set.
The Canadian native is a whiz with social media, leveraging his gargantuan flock — now 21.5 million strong on X, 51.3 million on Instagram.
That’s no accident.
Reynolds’ marketing mastery has coincided with his rise to superstardom. He helped turn Mint Mobile into a billion-dollar company.
He also took control, with fellow actor Rob McElhenney, of the Welsh football team Wrexham AFC and subsequently <a href="https://thehustle.co/03172023-ryan-reynolds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">watched ticket sales and sponsorship opportunities soar.</a>
<div id="attachment_703739" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-703739" class="size-large wp-image-703739" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/GettyImages-1484221864-864x576.jpg" alt="WREXHAM, WALES - APRIL 22: Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, Owners of Wrexham celebrate with the Vanarama National League trophy as Wrexham win the Vanarama National League and are promoted to the English Football League after victory in the Vanarama National League match between Wrexham and Boreham Wood at Racecourse Ground on April 22, 2023 in Wrexham, Wales. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/GettyImages-1484221864-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/GettyImages-1484221864-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/GettyImages-1484221864-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/GettyImages-1484221864.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Jan Kruger/Getty Images</div>
Disney could learn a thing or two from the star. The Mouse House’s Rachel Zegler of “Snow White” infamy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/disneys-snow-white-star-slammed-as-she-continues-bashing-original-film-in-another-resurfaced-video" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trashed her own franchise</a> more than once last year. Disney ended up postponing the live action reboot’s debut a full year, possibly to do some behind-the-scenes tinkering to deal with the PR fallout.
That’s never an issue with Reynolds.
He’d rather poke fun at himself than the fans or the material that’s making him even richer.
Ironically, the “Deadpool” franchise wasn’t even under Disney’s thumb initially. The company’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox changed all that. And now he’s working for Mickey and chums. He even found some good-natured humor in that merger, mocking how some classic Disney films <a href="https://movieweb.com/deadpool-logan-disney-plus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">truly deserve an R rating</a> like the “Deadpool” saga.
He wasn’t being woke, just silly.
Too many MCU stars either trash the franchise after the fact or lean, hard on its new woke ways. Actor Ray Winstone did the latter, saying his time shooting “Black Widow” was “<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ray-winstone-soul-destroying-experience-filming-black-widow-1235839139/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">soul destroying</a>.”
Comedian-turned-actor Kumail Nanjiani whined that the bad reviews surrounding his MCU debut in “Eternals” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/marvel-actor-said-he-had-trauma-from-eternals-bad-reviews-went-to-therapy-for-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chased him into therapy.</a>
Reynolds would never say anything close to these complaints. He’s like Jackman, a star who wants audiences to see the sunny side of superhero shtick.
<div id="attachment_703757" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-703757" class="size-large wp-image-703757" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/GettyImages-1578179193-864x576.jpg" alt="WREXHAM, WALES - AUGUST 5: Actor Hugh Jackman, a guest of owner Ryan Reynolds the co-owner of Wrexham wears a Wrexham hat whilst greeting fans prior to the Sky Bet League Two match between Wrexham and Milton Keynes Dons at Racecourse Ground on August 5, 2023 in Wrexham, Wales. (Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/GettyImages-1578179193-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/GettyImages-1578179193-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/GettyImages-1578179193-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/GettyImages-1578179193.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Matthew Ashton &#8211; AMA/Getty Images</div>
He’s getting paid handsomely to wear a silly costume, crack wise, and tell jokes his inner 15-year-old finds hilarious. And he refuses to settle for mediocrity. Think the team behind “Madame Web,” one of the worst superhero films of the last 20 years, had the same commitment to quality?
That’s exactly what the MCU needs. That, plus a hit to make the “superhero fatigue” talk fade, if at least for a while.
Follow Reynolds’ lead. Focus on the product. Reach out to the fans. Do it with a wink and a smile. And never let ‘em see you sweat.
He might be the MCU’s best chance at a new beginning.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="http://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@HollywoodInToto</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Wrexham v Notts County – Vanarama National League

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Trailer Shatters Record. Can Ryan Reynolds Save The MCU?

actors

Marvel

Readers Pass

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/marvel">Marvel</a> star <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ryan-reynolds">Ryan Reynolds</a> sent a message to movie fans, urging them to stop sharing sneak peek photos nabbed during the filming of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/movies">Deadpool 3</a>.”
The 47-year-old actor posted his thoughts about it in an Instagram story published Wednesday. 
“Surprises are part of the magic of theatrical movies. It’s important for us to shoot the new ‘Deadpool’ film in real, natural environments, using practical effects as opposed to making the movie indoors and digitally. Telephoto lenses continue to spoil surprises and create a difficult situation for everyone,” Reynolds wrote, per <a href="https://deadline.com/2023/12/deadpool-3-star-ryan-reynolds-pleads-restraint-using-spoiler-photos-1235656165/">Deadline</a>.
“Here’s hoping some of the websites and social channels hold back showing images before they’re ready,” the celebrity continued. “The film is built for audience joy — and our highest hope is to preserve as much of that magic as possible for the finished film and the big screen. Part of the reason people post spoilers is because they’re excited. I realize these aren’t real world issues and it’s firmly in the ‘good problems’ bucket. I love making this movie.”
“Deadpool 3” is a superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Deadpool, which will be distributed by Walt Disney Studios. It will be the 34th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and serves as a sequel to “Deadpool” (2016) and “Deadpool 2” (2018). Both previous films featured Reynolds as the lead character.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
The original “Deadpool” earned $782.6 million and was one of the highest-grossing films of 2016. It also became the highest-grossing R-rated film at the time. The sequel, released two years later, was also a critical and financial success. 
The story is based upon an unconventional anti-hero, a former Special Forces operative turned mercenary named Wade Wilson. He acquires healing powers after an experiment gone wrong and adopts the alter ego Deadpool.
Marvel is banking on a hit after several flops, including “The Marvels” earlier this year. Disney CEO Bob Iger recently said that the studio has made “too many” sequels in the past. “I don’t want to apologize for making sequels,” he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/disney-ceo-bob-iger-reveals-why-he-thinks-the-marvels-flopped-admits-they-made-too-many-sequels">said</a>. “We have to have a reason to make it beyond commerce.”
“Deadpool 3” is slated to be released in the United States on July 26, 2024, as part of Phase Five of the MCU.

Ryan Reynolds Urges Fans To Stop Sharing Leaked ‘Deadpool 3’ Photos: ‘A Difficult Situation’

Ryan Reynolds Urges Fans To Stop Sharing Leaked 'Deadpool 3' Photos: 'A Difficult Situation'

Superheroes

Actor Ryan Reynolds says that if a song from his holiday Apple TV+ offering &#8220;Spirited&#8221; were to earn an Academy Award nomination, he would feel obligated to &#8220;show up on that stage and embarrass myself.&#8221;
The song in question is titled &#8220;Good Afternoon&#8221; and is already reportedly on a &#8220;<a href="https://variety.com/feature/2023-oscars-best-original-song-predictions-1235396256/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shortlist</a>&#8221; shared by entertainment site Variety:
<ol>
<li>“Lift Me Up” by Tems, Ludwig Göransson, Rihanna and Ryan Coogler (&#8220;Black Panther: Wakanda Forever&#8221;)</li>
<li>“Naatu Naatu” by Kala Bhairava, M. M. Keeravani, Rahul Sipligunj (&#8220;RRR&#8221;)</li>
<li>“Ciao Papa” by Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz and Guillermo del Toro (&#8220;Guillermo del Toro&#8217;s Pinocchio&#8221;)</li>
<li>“Applause” by Diane Warren (&#8220;Tell it Like a Woman&#8221;)</li>
<li>“Til You’re Home” by Rita Wilson (&#8220;A Man Called Otto&#8221;)</li>
<li>&#8220;Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga and Bloodpop (&#8220;Top Gun: Maverick&#8221;)</li>
<li>“This is a Life” by David Byrne, Ryan Lott and Mitski (&#8220;Everything Everywhere All at Once&#8221;)</li>
<li>“Carolina” by Taylor Swift (&#8220;Where the Crawdads Sing&#8221;)</li>
<li>&#8220;Good Afternoon” by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (&#8220;Spirited&#8221;)</li>
<li>“Stand Up” by Jazmine Sullivan and D’Mile (&#8220;Till&#8221;)</li>
</ol>
&#8220;Good Afternoon&#8221; writer Justin Paul <a href="https://variety.com/2023/artisans/awards/ryan-reynolds-spirited-good-afternoon-oscars-original-song-1235489178/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Variety</a> that he&#8217;d love to see the song nominated, in part because he&#8217;d love to see actors Reynolds and Will Ferrell perform the number live at the Academy Awards.
&#8220;I need them on stage,&#8221; he said.
And Reynolds appears to be amenable to that, though he&#8217;s not expecting it. &#8220;I’m not thinking about that,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Look, if this song is nominated for an Academy Award, I would say that the least I can do is show up on that stage and embarrass myself.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Spirited — “Good Afternoon” Full Scene | Apple TV+" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OMkJIR9pX1w?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The one person likely to be disappointed — should &#8220;Spirited&#8221; get the nod and land Reynolds alongside Ferrell on the Oscars&#8217; stage — is &#8220;X-Men&#8221; actor Hugh Jackman. <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/watch-hugh-jackman-begs-academy-not-to-nominate-ryan-reynolds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jackman</a>, who often trades barbs with Reynolds — and is set to appear with him in the next &#8220;Deadpool&#8221; movie — shared his concerns about the prospect.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
But don’t get me wrong … <a href="https://t.co/8ymOYUOq9m">pic.twitter.com/8ymOYUOq9m</a>
&mdash; Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealHughJackman/status/1610639446709342210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In a video posted just after the new year, Jackman begged the Academy not to nominate Reynolds, claiming it would &#8220;make the next year of my life insufferable.&#8221;
Reynolds responded with a video of his own, first calling on the Academy to nominate Jackman for his role in &#8220;The Son&#8221; and then, after apparently pretending to shut the feed off, mumbled under his breath about him.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
For Hugh-r consideration. <a href="https://t.co/0qDASD4xDm">pic.twitter.com/0qDASD4xDm</a>
&mdash; Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) <a href="https://twitter.com/VancityReynolds/status/1613198396403351553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Apple Original Film’s “Spirited” New York Red Carpet

‘The Least I Can Do’: Ryan Reynolds Promises To Show Up And ‘Embarrass Myself’ If ‘Spirited’ Tune Scores Oscar Nod

Ryan Reynolds Promises To Show Up And 'Embarrass Myself' If 'Spirited' Tune Scores Oscar Nod

apple

Will Ferrell

Actor Hugh Jackman took a jab at fellow actor Ryan Reynolds after he begged the Academy not to nominate the &#8220;Deadpool&#8221; star for his song &#8220;Good Afternoon.”
In a <a href="https://twitter.com/RealHughJackman/status/1610639446709342210?s=20&amp;t=vpsHzt5kHp8iawZj3_cEyQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clip</a> shared on Wednesday by the 54-year-old actor, Jackman said <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ryan-reynolds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reynolds</a>&#8216; performance in the Apple TV+ holiday movie &#8220;Spirited&#8221; was fun, but that the actor would be insufferable if he lands an Oscar for it.
&#8220;Hey everybody, it’s 2023, and I really, really wanted to send out a positive message at the beginning of the year, but recent events have made that impossible,&#8221; Jackman jokingly shared in the video.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
But don’t get me wrong … <a href="https://t.co/8ymOYUOq9m">pic.twitter.com/8ymOYUOq9m</a>
&mdash; Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealHughJackman/status/1610639446709342210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Don&#8217;t get me wrong, I loved &#8216;Spirited,’” he added. &#8220;It&#8217;s a great movie. We had a blast; the entire family watched it &#8230; and by the way, the song &#8216;Good Afternoon,&#8217; I laughed the entire way through.&#8221;
&#8220;Now, Ryan Reynolds getting a nomination in the best song category would make the next year of my life insufferable,&#8221; Jackman continued. &#8220;I mean, I have to spend a year with him shooting &#8216;Wolverine&#8217; and &#8216;Deadpool,’ and trust me, it would be impossible, it would be a problem.&#8221;
The &#8220;Greatest Showman&#8221; star closed out his video by sharing that while he loved the cast and song, he once again begged the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to &#8220;please, please, from the bottom of my heart — do not validate Ryan Reynolds in this way, please.&#8221;
Jackman and Reynolds have had a decade-long pretend feud, and this is just the latest between the two Hollywood stars, <a href="https://pagesix.com/2023/01/04/hugh-jackman-asks-academy-not-to-nominate-ryan-reynolds-for-best-song/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Page Six</a> noted.
Later, the &#8220;Free Guy&#8221; star responded on Twitter, saying he disagreed with Jackman&#8217;s assessment.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Disagree. I think the deepfakes that sung and danced for Will and I would love to perform at the Oscars. <a href="https://t.co/tjI8NwfdKc">https://t.co/tjI8NwfdKc</a>
&mdash; Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) <a href="https://twitter.com/VancityReynolds/status/1610649330116956161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Disagree. I think the deepfakes that sung and danced for Will [Ferrell] and I would love to perform at the Oscars,&#8221; Reynolds jokingly shared, along with the clip from Jackman that has since gone viral with more that 2.2 million views at the time of this publication.
Filming for &#8220;Deadpool 3&#8221; is expected to begin in May 2023 with an estimated theatrical release planned for November 2024, <a href="https://variety.com/2022/film/news/hugh-jackman-wolverine-return-deadpool-3-explained-1235414176/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Variety</a> noted.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hugh-jackman-discusses-wolverines-addition-to-deadpool-3-cast-says-they-hate-each-other" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hugh Jackman Discusses Wolverine&#8217;s Addition To &#8216;Deadpool 3&#8217; Cast, Says They &#8216;Hate Each Other&#8217;</a>

WATCH: Hugh Jackman Begs Academy Not To Nominate Ryan Reynolds

Oscars

Menu