New Fox Nation special examines the legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni
Fox Nation’s ‘Blake vs. Justin: It Didn’t End With Us’ premieres on Thursday, March 6th.
Justin Baldoni referred to Ryan Reynolds as Blake Lively’s "co-conspirator" in a Tuesday filing that asked a judge to deny the "Deadpool" actor’s motion to be dismissed from Baldoni’s $400 million defamation lawsuit.
"Reynolds pretends" that Baldoni’s and the Wayfarer Studios legal team's "First Amended Complaint (the 'FAC') fails to set forth any basis for his liability and that he merely acted as a supportive spouse," Baldoni’s lawyers wrote in the filing obtained by Fox News Digital. "Not so. The FAC specifically alleges ample facts to support the Wayfarer Parties claims against him, based on both his direct actions and his liability as a co-conspirator."
It went on to say "even in the extremely unlikely event that the Court determines" dismissing Reynolds from the lawsuit is "appropriate, Reynolds is unable to recover his attorneys’ fees," saying that Anti-SLAPP laws that protect people from meritless lawsuits don't apply in this case.
The filing added, "In short, the Motion should be denied."
BLAKE LIVELY, JUSTIN BALDONI CALLED OUT FOR ‘HIGH SCHOOL’ DRAMA IN NEW DOCUMENTARY

Justin Baldoni, left, refers to Ryan Reynolds as Blake Lively’s "co-conspirator" in a Tuesday filing that asked a judge to deny the "Deadpool" actor’s motion to be dismissed from Baldoni’s $400 million defamation lawsuit. (Getty Images)
Baldoni’s defamation suit against Lively accuses Reynolds of "defamation, false light invasion of privacy, tortious interference, and civil extortion." False light is an invasion of privacy that portrays someone in an unfair light. Reynolds' team has filed a motion to have the actor removed from the suit.
A spokesperson for Reynolds told Fox News Digital Friday, "The main takeaway from the Wayfarer Parties’ opposition to Ryan’s motion to dismiss their case is that they finally realize the plain defects in their complaint."
BLAKE LIVELY VS. JUSTIN BALDONI: EVERYTHING TO KNOW
"They once again claim defamation without alleging who was defamed, what specifically was said, or how anyone suffered actual harm," the spokesperson continued. "Unlike Mr. Baldoni, who built his brand pretending to be a man who is ‘confident enough to listen’ to the women in his life, Ryan Reynolds actually is that man, and he will continue to support his wife as she stands up to the individuals who not only harassed her but then have retaliated against her." The spokesperson added, "Under New York law, California law, and indeed in every jurisdiction of the United States this lawsuit not only fails but may result in the Wayfarer Parties covering Ryan’s costs and attorneys’ fees for bringing such a frivolous case in the first place."
Baldoni’s Tuesday filing said that Reynolds’ claim that his suit "fails to identify defamatory statements he made fails on its face."

A rep for Ryan Reynolds said the actor will "continue to support his wife," Blake Lively. (NBC)
"The FAC alleges that, at least twice, Reynolds stated to WME executives—Baldoni’s and Wayfarer’s talent agency—that Baldoni is a sexual predator and that, by implication, WME was in business with a sexual predator," the filing said, adding, "These allegations are more than sufficiently specific, identifying the speaker, the listeners, and why, where and when the statements were made."
Baldoni's team in their Tuesday filing also used a quote Reynolds jokingly made last summer while doing press for "Deadpool & Wolverine," in which he said, "I’ve realized that I’m too big to fail at this point, so I just crush my enemies and drink their blood."
After filing the motion to dismiss last month, Reynolds' lawyers said that Baldoni's entire case against Reynolds "appears to be based on Mr. Reynolds allegedly privately calling Mr. Baldoni a ‘predator,’ but here’s the problem — that is not defamation unless they can show that Mr. Reynolds did not believe that statement to be true. The complaint doesn’t allege that. In fact, it suggests the opposite: that Mr. Reynolds genuinely believes Mr. Baldoni is a predator," People magazine reported.
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Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds married in 2012 and have four children together. (Gotham)
Reynolds' wife, Lively, is also trying to get Baldoni's lawsuit dismissed and filed a motion on March 20.
Lively's legal team claimed Baldoni used his $400 million lawsuit as a "blunt public relations instrument" designed to further the actor's "sinister campaign" to destroy his "It Ends With Us" co-star's reputation, according to the court docs obtained by Fox News Digital at the time.
Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, filed a response to the motion on Thursday.
"The First Amended Complaint ('FAC') contains hundreds of pages rife with factual detail about Lively’s calculated efforts first to extort and manipulate the Wayfarer Parties into ceding total control over the film It Ends With Us (the ‘Film’) and then to defame and scapegoat them when her plan backfired," the documents, obtained by Fox News Digital, read. "Nonetheless, Lively refuses to accept responsibility for the trail of untold destruction she left in her wake."
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Justin Baldoni's legal team filed a motion to deny Blake Lively's request to dismiss the defamation lawsuit. (Gotham/GC Images)
The documents state Lively has not only asked for a dismissal, "but also to award her attorneys’ fees, costs, and treble and punitive damages for the Wayfarer Parties’ constitutionally protected act of petitioning the court for redress of their grievances."
"In essence, Lively asks the Court to find that she is immune from any culpability for her wrongful acts, and instead it is the Wayfarer Parties who must be punished for daring to exercise their constitutional right to seek a remedy from the Court for her lies."
The filing said the actress' motion must be denied, noting that "The FAC specifically alleges abundant facts in support of the Wayfarer Parties’ claims against Lively, based both on her own direct actions and on those of her co-conspirators and agents."

Blake Lively's lawyers said in a statement that Justin Baldoni is "hell bent" on destroying the actress. (Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
In a statement issued to Fox News Digital on Friday, Lively’s lawyers, Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, said Baldoni is "hell bent" on trying to destroy Lively.
"Baldoni, Sarowitz and the rest of the Wayfarer Parties are now arguing that nobody should be protected by the sexual harassment privilege," the statement read. "They’re not just saying that it doesn’t apply to Ms. Lively – they’re saying it's unconstitutional and no woman should ever have these protections. That’s right: Justin Baldoni, the man who has built his brand on supposedly speaking up for victims, believes that the First Amendment rights of victims of sexual assault and harassment to speak out should give way to the rights of perpetrators to sue their victims 'into oblivion.'"
The statement continued, "These defendants are so hell bent on trying to destroy Blake Lively that they are willing to shred a law designed to protect all victims just to make sure they 'bury' one."
Fox News Digital has reached out to representatives for Baldoni for comment.

Baldoni's court filing states that "The First Amended Complaint ('FAC') contains hundreds of pages rife with factual detail about Lively’s calculated efforts" to try and get control of "It Ends With Us." (Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
Lively sued Baldoni last December for sexual harassment, retaliation, intentional affliction of emotional distress, negligence and more related to their movie "It Ends With Us," which came out last summer.
The same day Lively filed her federal suit, Baldoni filed a $250 million suit against the New York Times for a December article about the alleged smear campaign he attempted to run against his co-star.
Weeks later, Baldoni then named Lively and Reynolds in a separate $400 million defamation lawsuit in which he accused the Hollywood power couple of attempting to hijack "It Ends With Us" and create their own narrative.
In Baldoni's suit, he claimed Lively took over the edit, and he was essentially locked out of the film. From there, she allegedly threatened not to attend the premiere.
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In addition to releasing a website detailing the timeline of events that allegedly occurred, Baldoni's team also shared unedited footage from the set of "It Ends With Us." Both Lively and Baldoni have claimed the footage bolsters their respective claims.
Lively has also filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Fox News Digital's Tracy Wright contributed to this report.