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Why Deadpool & Wolverine’s Nicepool Character Has Become Part of the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni Legal Battle

As the Blake Lively versus Justin Baldoni saga continues, which stems from their confrontational experience working together on the 2024 hit It Ends with Us continues, Ryan Reynolds and his Nicepool character has now entered the fray, having been singled out in a recent countersuit filed by Baldoni.

The surprisingly complicated feud first became apparent when Baldoni, who directed the movie while playing the male lead alongside leading lady and producer Lively, was missing from much of the film’s promotional tour, with word starting to spread that the two clashed on set. However, it was Lively who caught much of the flack from fans and the media, with many pointing to her tone-deaf behaviour during interviews, as the actress and producer was seen frequently trying to push her hair care products while maintaining a happy-go-lucky that clashed with the movie’s serious subject matter of domestic abuse. Media outlets drew attention to an incident in 2016 where Lively, who was pregnant at the time, took offence to the interviewer congratulating her on the baby bump, retorting, “congrats on your little bump,” despite the interviewer not being pregnant. When this story came to light, it certainly did not help that the interviewer came forward and said that the experience made her consider quitting her job.

Things eventually calmed down and the matter seemed settled…that is, until Lively sued Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios, accusing him of sexual assault, intimidation, and defamation of character for an alleged smear campaign against Lively orchestrated by a PR firm Baldoni hired. While some of Lively’s past behaviour was certainly tasteless and in one instance mean-spirited, a smear campaign would certainly explain the intense microscope she was placed under during the film’s promotional run, the coverage of which greatly outweighed the significance of her behaviour.

With new light having been shed on the situation, a great many people started walking back comments they made about Lively, as the actions she highlights are very serious indeed. And if the leaked texts between Baldoni’s personal rep Jennifer Abel and the lead of the PR team, Melissa Nathan – originally published by The New York Times, which show the extent of the smear campaign levelled against Lively – are anything to go by, it was a morally reprehensible, toxically cynical act that was followed by nausea-inducing ego-stroking. The consequences were swift for Baldoni, who has long branded himself as a champion of women’s rights and equality, with his Women’s Voices of Solidarity Award being rescinded, as well the co-host of his gender-centred podcast Man Enough, Liz Plank, walking away following Lively’s accusations, stating, “I will continue to support everyone who calls out injustice and holds the people standing in their way accountable.”

Most recently, then, Baldoni filed his own aforementioned lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist, accusing them of civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privacy, while also alleging that, in actuality, they were the ones that tried to “destroy” him. What I find particularly interesting in this countersuit, however, is that Baldoni alleges that the character of Nicepool, was made with the intention of mocking him.

While there is currently no way of telling if there is any truth to the claim, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman swears there is “no question” that Nicepool is used to mock Baldoni, which, as far as we know right now, only comes down to the character’s man-bun (which Baldoni sported until 2023) and the character’s satirically overt, almost glib political correctness. According to reporting by The Hollywood Reporter, Nicepool was actually conceived before the feud between Lively and Baldoni, but his character was apparently kept somewhat vague in the script and his scenes were not shot until later in the production, which had already been delayed by the SAG-AFTRA strike and would mean that Nicepool’s were indeed shot in the midst of the feud between Lively and Baldoni. The reason why Freedman believes this is so significant is that, if true, it would mean that Lively and Reynolds made light of what they claim was a very serious situation, though he has yet to provide any evidence to support his claims.

As this is an ongoing legal battle that currently amounts to he said/she said, it is important for us to learn from the early persecution of Lively and not draw any premature conclusions, as both parties have levelled significant allegations against one another, though Lively claiming Baldoni sexually assaulted her is particularly serious, and she seems to have the receipts regarding Baldoni’s own smear campaign against her. If there is one thing for certain, though, it’s that we haven’t heard the end of this seemingly endless saga.



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