Joe Rogan had some strong words for Hollywood ‘A-listers’ Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds as he sided with director Justin Baldoni in their ongoing legal battle.
The podcaster spoke about the legal drama with comedian Brendan Schaub on his Joe Rogan Experience in an episode that aired on Saturday, when the two accused the celebrity couple of ‘ruining their reputation’.
‘They f***ed up,’ Rogan said, noting: ‘Ryan’s trying to get out of it now.
‘He’s trying to get out of the lawsuit and they’re like “You are a key part of this.”
‘The whole thing’s crazy,’ he continued, as he accused Lively and Reynolds of ‘trying to take over the movie and the whole franchise’ from the 41-year-old .
Rogan also noted that the It Ends With Us director is also ‘suing the New York Times and he’s got a great case there, too,’ he claimed.
He went on to agree with Schaub, who claimed that Baldoni’s only option is to go back to court and go ‘hard in the paint’ if he wants to salvage his career.
‘Especially a guy like that who’s, like, known for being [a] really sweet, nice guy and then he’s like, “Alright, enough,”‘ Rogan said, praising the director for releasing what he called ‘receipts’ like text messages in response to the suit.
Amid the text messages that Baldoni released were one in which Lively invited him into her trailer while she was ‘pumping’ – despite her later accusing Baldoni of walking in on her while she was breastfeeding without her consent.
‘You literally have a text exchange back and forth,’ Rogan said.
‘They just never thought that anybody was going to come out with the receipts,’ he said of the celebrity power couple – whom he claimed too many people in Hollywood would be ‘scared’ to fight.
The legal battle began back in December when Lively, 37, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni for his alleged actions on the set of It Ends With Us.
Baldoni later followed up by launching a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively, her publicist and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
He also filed a $250 million libel lawsuit against the New York Times for its reporting on Lively’s allegations – claiming its feature only included the actress’ version of events.
Both Lively and Baldoni have denied each others claims, and the New York Times has denied Baldoni’s accusations and requested that his lawsuit against the paper be dismissed.
Baldoni’s lawyers are now fighting back as they asked a judge to at least give them to the start of discovery so they can enter their claims.
They accused the Times of going ‘past merely reporting’ Lively’s complaint and ‘vouched for the veracity of its false narrative,’ which they said relied ‘heavily on deceptively spliced private text messages,’ according to court documents obtained by CBR.
Meanwhile, Reynolds has filed a motion to be dismissed from Baldoni’s $400 million defamation lawsuit.
In court documents, 48-year-old The Proposal actor made reference to Nicepool – a mockingly woke character in Deadpool & Wolverine, which premiered last July – which Baldoni claims is based on him – even down to the man bun hairstyle.
Reynolds claimed that Baldoni’s ‘thin-skinned outrage over a movie character, the satirical ‘woke’ Nicepool, does not even pretend to be tied to any actual legal claims.
‘Instead, it falls into the general allegation of “hurt feelings” which in reality is nothing more than a desperate effort to advance the same curated “bully” image that (Baldoni) created and disseminated in the retaliation campaign they launched against Ms. Lively in August of 2024.’
Reynold’s motion came just days after a source exclusively revealed to DailyMail.com that Baldoni’s legal team will look into Disney’s potential involvement in the alleged smear campaign against him by Reynolds and his wife.
‘Baldoni’s legal team is now going to try and do a deep dive into Deadpool and the funding for the film, as well as the actors and producers who were aware of this bullying when filming,’ the insider said.
They said the fact Reynolds has not disputed the claim that Nicepool was based on Baldoni had ‘opened up the scope’ of how Baldoni’s lawyers may attempt to prove that their client had been under a coordinated attack.
‘Being Ryan admitted that the Nicepool character in Deadpool was based on Justin, he not only dragged Hugh Jackman into the forefront and the directors and producers of the film, but also Disney,’ the insider continued.
‘Essentially, Ryan said in court documents that Disney allowed money to be spent on a film that they knew would be a blockbuster hit on bullying another person.’
They noted that the action of creating Nicepool presented further questions: ‘Furthermore, why would Ryan – who believed that his wife was being sexually abused or harassed at the time – create a role for his attacker?
‘What was once a theory is now confirmed. This just opened the scope up. There is a massive power struggle here.’
They continued: ‘Blake and Ryan thought they were untouchable and could get away with anything.’
In his recent legal request, Reynolds described himself as a ‘supportive spouse who has witnessed firsthand the emotional, reputational and financial devastation’ Lively endured.
He also claimed Baldoni was attempting to ‘shame’ him for being ‘the kind of man who is confident enough to listen to the woman in his life and stand with her.’
But in remarks to TMZ, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman said: ‘Mr. Reynolds’ exploitation of his enormous power in Hollywood continues, this time arrogantly asking to be dismissed from the case despite his publicly documented involvement extending far beyond just being a ‘supportive spouse.’
Freedman doubled down, accusing Reynolds of playing a central role in what he called a smear campaign.
‘Mr. Reynolds was a key player in the scheme, defaming Justin around Hollywood, strong-arming WME into dropping Justin as a client, and trying to destroy Justin’s career however possible.’
Freedman scoffed at Reynolds’ attempt to exit the case, and his claims about Baldoni’s ‘thin-skinned’ reaction to the Nicepool character.
‘His fingerprints have been all over this smear campaign against Justin and the Wayfarer team since day one,’ he said. ‘Mr. Reynolds now attempts to reduce plainly cognizable claims to ‘hurt feelings,’ sending a clear message that bullying is acceptable.’
He didn’t stop there, adding: ‘After lighting a match, Mr. Reynolds now seeks to run from the flames. It won’t work. The Wayfarer Parties’ claims against him are real, and they are serious.
‘Mr. Reynolds can appear on as many sketch shows as he wants and feebly try to make light of his current situation, but we will not stop until he is held accountable for his actions.’
The ‘sketch shows’ dig appears to reference Reynolds’ SNL 50 appearance, where he seemingly mocked the ongoing legal drama with Baldoni.
Reynolds is seeking dismissal with prejudice, which would bar Baldoni from re-filing the suit in the future.
Amid the legal drama, Baldoni debuted a new look – with a faux hawk and shaved sides.
The Jane the Virgin star, who admitted he was ‘exhausted’ from a year of ’emotional stress’ last month, showed off his edgy haircut for the first time while with his two children, Maiya and Maxwell, in Hawaii, last week.
He has said that he needed to ‘heal from’ last year and acknowledged he’s ‘a work in progress.’
‘I am somebody who is always trying to be radically sincere and authentic to myself, so that I can be of service in the best way possible and have the most impact,’ the director noted in an episode of the Gent’s Talk podcast released last month.
