Ryan Reynolds made a solo appearance at a special FYC event for his sports documentary series, Welcome To Wrexham, in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
The Deadpool actor, 49, attended the event without his wife Blake Lively, 38, who is gearing up for her courtroom battle with director Justin Baldoni, 42, at their upcoming trial on May 18.
Reynolds and Lively are reportedly considering fleeing America in a bid to escape the ongoing backlash against them amid the fallout from the legal drama.
But at Tuesday’s event the actor looked in good spirits and went for a casual look, wearing an orange and white striped sweater paired with a white tee and beige jeans.
The actor – whose fiery text messages were unsealed amid Lively’s legal war – kept comfortable in a pair of white sneakers.
While at the event he was seen mingling with screenwriter Rob Mac. Reynolds and Mac bought the Welsh soccer club Wrexham AFC in 2021.
Ryan Reynolds, 49, made a solo appearance at a special FYC event for his sports documentary series, Welcome To Wrexham, in Los Angeles on Tuesday
The Deadpool actor attended the event without his wife Blake Lively, 38, who is gearing up for her courtroom battle with director Justin Baldoni, 42, at their upcoming trial on May 18
Welcome to Wrexham – which follows Reynolds and Mac’s efforts to revive the third oldest football club in the world – has won ten Emmys in its first four seasons. The fifth season will see the team battle for a spot in the Premier League.
The show returns May 14 on FX and Hulu, with a double-episode premiere. New episodes will drop weekly afterwards.
Speaking about his documentary team at the event, Reynolds told ABC30 News, ‘What I find incredibly gratifying is once they’re embedded in Wrexham, they fall so deeply in love that it’s so hard to pull them back out.’
‘We’ve earned the trust of the town and the reward of that are that people are incredibly forthcoming when it comes to the doc. They really share their hearts and their stories in a vulnerable way because they know the story will be told responsibly and they know we’re here to listen and share their stories.’
The Canadian actor’s outing comes as his wife remains embroiled in a bitter legal battle.
Lively sued her director and It Ends With Us co-star Baldoni for sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her on December 31, 2024. Baldoni has vehemently denied the claims.
The parties recently submitted evidence ahead of a court battle on May 18 over the fallout from the movie It Ends With Us, produced by Wayfarer, as well as claims of reputational damage and financial losses.
Lawyers for Baldoni’s production company recently insisted the firm is not to blame for Lively’s losses, claiming she was already a ‘bully’ with a history of failed business ventures.
During a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday, attorneys for Wayfarer Studios, owned by Baldoni, argued that Lively had a track record of flopping projects, such as her drinks brand Betty Buzz, due to her unpopularity, rather than any smear campaign, which she has accused him of orchestrating.
Wayfarer lawyers also pointed to Lively’s public criticism of Kate Middleton as evidence of her conduct, arguing that it shows a pattern of behavior prior to the release of the 2024 film.
The actor went for a casual look, wearing an orange and white striped sweater paired with a white tee and beige jeans
He rocked a light scruff on the red carpet
While at the event he was seen mingling with screenwriter Rob Mac. Reynolds and Mac bought the Welsh soccer club Wrexham AFC in 2021
Welcome to Wrexham – which follows Reynolds and Mac’s efforts to revive the third oldest football club in the world – has won ten Emmys in its first four seasons
The fifth season will see the team battle for a spot in the Premier League
Welcome to Wrexham returns May 14 on FX and Hulu, with a double-episode premiere. New episodes will drop weekly afterwards
The Canadian actor’s outing comes as his wife remains embroiled in a bitter legal battle
The team referred to Lively apparently mocking the Princess of Wales after she posted a family photograph that was later revealed to have been digitally altered, sparking global headlines in March 2024.
Lively then posted an obviously Photoshopped picture of herself with a huge thumb, a chair in two pieces and a lemon floating above her head.
A few days later, the Princess revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer, forcing an apology from Lively.
The judge is weighing whether to unseal key pieces of evidence currently hidden from public view, as well as whether to impose time limits on the trial, now just weeks away.
Lively’s team alleged that she lost tens of millions in endorsements on top of nine-figure hits to her earnings and profits – figures Wayfarer’s side has dismissed as wildly inflated.
Its attorney, Amir Kaltgrad, argued that the numbers were ‘pie in the sky,’ broken down as: $143 million in lost profits, $132 million in lost earnings and several million more for lost endorsements.
He claimed the calculations from Lively’s experts about her lost earnings were speculative.
One of them made an ‘unrealistic assumption’ about how much work Lively would do in the years after It Ends With Us, he told the court.
Kaltgrad noted that Lively only earned $21 million from four film projects in the eight years leading up to the release of the 2024 movie.
Yet Lively’s expert Richard Marks, a lawyer who works in the entertainment industry, estimated that she would have earned $142 million in the five years after the film, just based on her acting.
Reynolds and Lively are reportedly considering fleeing America in a bid to escape the ongoing backlash against them amid the fallout from the legal drama; Seen in 2024
Kaltgrad argued Lively had a ‘scattered work history’ and claimed there was ‘evidence she didn’t want to work full time.’
‘Yet Mr Marks has opined she’s going to be working day and night,’ Kaltgrad said. ‘He has a 600 percent increase in her earnings between $21 million she made and $142 million she’s going to make.’
Kaltgrad said that in one case, it was Lively’s business decisions that caused her economic harm, not the firm.
He claimed her non-alcoholic drinks line Betty Buzz ‘did not succeed for nothing to do with the defendants,’ pointing out that that her own accountant, Jeffrey Kinrich, said as much.
In a court filing last week, Lively herself admitted that the brand was failing. She admitted that Jeffrey Kinrich, a certified public accountant whom she hopes will testify about her lost income, did not calculate damages from Betty Buzz.
According to a court filing, ‘management had doubts about the profitability and sustainability of Betty Buzz for reasons unrelated to the online manipulation.’
Lively admitted that management for the brand said that her spirits-based drinks were ‘demonstrating explosive growth.’ But it would be ‘difficult’ for Betty Buzz to ‘gain real profitability in the US,’ the filing stated.
The Betty Buzz website is still operational and customers can still pay $34.99 for 12 cans of sparkling grapefruit drink.
Speaking outside court, Lively’s lawyer Sigrid McCawley poured cold water on the prospect of any last-minute settlement. She said: ‘Blake’s hope is to be able to have her voice heard in that courtroom and that’s what we’re focused on right now’.
McCawley said that Lively would testify and was ‘expecting to take the stand’.
‘Blake’s been ready for this trial, it’s a moment she’s been waiting for a long time, to have her voice heard in this court,’ she said.
Earlier this month, District Judge Lewis Liman threw out ten of 13 of Lively’s claims, including many of those against Baldoni; The two seen in a still from It Ends With Us
‘She’s feeling really good…she’s finally at a point where she will be able to tell her side.’
Asked about whether the celebrities who have been named in court documents, such as Taylor Swift and Ben Affleck, might testify, McCawley said that Lively did not want that.
She said: ‘Blake has really tried ferociously to protect her friends… this is really about her and what she experienced. That’s what the case is going to center on.’
Earlier this month, District Judge Lewis Liman threw out ten of 13 of Lively’s claims, including many of those against Baldoni.
The ruling has left Lively with three to pursue, including breach of contract and retaliation against Wayfarer and It Ends With Us Movie LLC.
A third claim, for allegedly aiding and abetting retaliation, is against the crisis PR firm hired by Wayfarer, The Agency Group PR.
