Ryan Reynolds' Reputation Is In Shambles & It's So Obvious

Once upon a time, it was difficult to imagine that Ryan Reynolds could ever be at the center of widespread backlash and controversy. After all, he worked hard to cultivate a reputation of being a funny, approachable guy-next-door over his lengthy Hollywood tenure. While other celebrities were embroiled in petty feuds, Reynolds was busy trolling his equally famous wife, Blake Lively, on social media. In November 2017, he shared a candid shot of a casually dressed Lively on Instagram and captioned it, "#nofilter." He also celebrated the "Gossip Girl" alum's birthday by posting another shot on Instagram of the couple attending the Met Gala, except he cropped her out of it, so only part of her face was visible. 

The "Deadpool" star obviously didn't let his wife off the hook in interviews either. During a 2015 appearance on the "Late Show with David Letterman," Reynolds recalled promising Lively that he would gladly lay his life down for her. Then, the actor joked about how their firstborn's arrival completely changed his perspective, hilariously confessing, "The second I looked into that baby's eyes, I knew in that exact moment if we were ever under attack, I would use my wife as a human shield to protect that baby," (via YouTube). 

Reynolds took a similarly light-hearted approach while addressing rumors about his relationship with Lively. In response to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, from a news outlet claiming that their marriage was under strain because they couldn't spend enough time together, Reynolds wrote, "I wish. I could use a little 'me time.'" However, the actor couldn't joke his way out of a highly-publicized controversy with another star.

When Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively's "It Ends With Us" premiered in August 2024, it was clear that the co-stars weren't on good terms based on their physical distance at every promotional opportunity. And Lively confirmed the rumors of discord between them in December by filing a lawsuit against her director. According to court documents obtained by Entertainment Weekly, the "Age of Adaline" star detailed several instances of Baldoni engaging in "invasive, unprofessional and sexually inappropriate behavior." Then, in January 2025, he filed his own, $400 million lawsuit against Lively and Ryan Reynolds. 

In February, Baldoni launched a website called Lawsuit Info to share the amended complaint he had lodged with the court at the end of January. In it, he claimed that the character of Nicepool in Reynolds' 2024 movie "Deadpool & Wolverine" was "intended to be a transparent and mocking portrayal of Reynolds' warped perception of Baldoni." To make his case, the director pointed out that Nicepool was a "vicious caricature of a 'woke' feminist," who was killed by Ladypool, a character that Lively had lent her voice to. 

Additionally, the actor also took offense to Reynolds supposedly labeling him as a "sexual predator" in front of an executive at his agency, WME, to coax them into terminating Baldoni's contract. In March 2025, the "Proposal" star requested the courts to essentially leave him out of Baldoni and Lively's lawsuit. In his filings, he argued that he hadn't broken the law by referring to him as a "predator." As CNN noted, Reynolds claimed that Baldoni's issues with Nicepool stemmed from "hurt feelings" and didn't have any legal basis.

In January 2025, Ryan Reynolds presented the "Wicked" cast with the Best Film Of The Year at the National Board of Review Annual Awards Gala. In his speech, the comedic actor arguably strayed a bit from the task at hand, subtly shading Justin Baldoni by proclaiming, "Stories about women seem to be held to a different set of standards, and that is to say that they're often held to the standards women are held to in life," (via The Independent). The Canadian star further expressed his frustrations about how women were told to be perfect and forced to easily adapt to every tough situation. 

However, many social media commentators were left scratching their heads about why Reynolds was asked to present the award in the first place, given that he didn't have any associations with the movie. One Redditor posited that the actor had inserted himself into the event to get good publicity amidst the Baldoni lawsuit. To make their case, they pointed out how most past presenters were more closely associated with the recipients. 

Likewise, another critic believed he stole the cast's thunder with his insincere, self-serving speech. Even Instagram commentators felt that Reynolds' attention-grabbing appearance made it seem like he hoped the cast's good public image would rub off on him. In March 2025, an insider informed RadarOnline that while people may find his public behavior "scheming and calculated," he essentially had no other way to rehabilitate his public image, adding, "He has a brand and a bank balance to protect."

Although Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively kept a relatively low profile as the Justin Baldoni lawsuit gained traction, the celebrity couple did step out to celebrate "Saturday Night Live's" 50th anniversary. Unfortunately, even this brief appearance managed to stir up some drama. During one portion of the special anniversary episode, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey asked Reynolds how things were with him. In response, the "Green Lantern" star quipped that he was "Great," before making light of the controversy by wondering, "Why? What have you heard?" (via X).

However, most Redditors didn't feel compelled to laugh either at or with him because of the sheer gravity of the lawsuit. One critic even professed that the joke was a failed PR move intended to restore Reynolds' public image as the funny guy-next-door. In the days following SNL50, the show's cue card holder, Wally Feresten, appeared on "Fifi, Fev and Nick," and made the actor's struggles arguably harder by revealing, "[Reynolds] had a different line in rehearsal, and he pitched that to replace it. So, that was his idea to do it." However, an "SNL" rep denied this.

Additionally, another insider disclosed that the joke actually came from the "SNL" writers' room and was altered during rehearsals. In the aftermath, Reynolds and Lively seemingly decided to skip attending any big public events. Although some of Lively's most gorgeous looks have come from her Met Gala appearances, she and her husband wound up skipping the event for the third year in a row as a result of the ongoing controversy. Although a source clarified to TMZ that the lawsuit backlash didn't factor into the celebrity couple's decision, many found that pretty hard to believe.

During a November 2024 appearance on "Rent Free," Martha Stewart tossed a shady dig at her neighbor Ryan Reynolds by confirming that his sense of humor was limited to the big screen since he was a far more serious person IRL. In typical fashion, the "Buried" star took to X to respond to her words with a quip, writing, "I'd disagree with her. But I tried that once. The woman is unexpectedly spry. She really closed the gap after a mile or so." 

In the past, it would be rare to see Reynolds receive anything other than pats on the back for his sense of humor. However, this time around, the joke didn't sit well with many Redditors, leaving them to argue that it was proof of him being unfunny and egotistical. One critic asserted that the comeback showed that his magic actually came from the writers who tackled the actor's material for movies. Notably, Stewart isn't the only acquaintance who has criticized him.  

During a 2022 appearance on "The Adam Carolla Show," the comedian's former "Deadpool" co-star, T.J. Miller, claimed that he had been rude to him on set. Reynolds had apparently made a snide comment while they were filming, telling him, "You're not the star, but you do just enough exposition that it's funny and then we can leave and get back to the real movie," (via The Mirror). Unsurprisingly, Miller wasn't especially eager to share the screen with Reynolds again.

In Ryan Reynolds' hit 2024 flick "Deadpool & Wolverine," his daughter, Inez, delivered a strange joke. "Hey, when I want your opinion, I'll take Wolverine's d**k out of your mouth," the then-7-year-old tells her father (via YouTube). Reynolds only dug himself a deeper hole by acknowledging in the commentary track that Inez initially didn't want to deliver the controversial line. Then, the actor joked that she got on board when he started to look for other actors for the role. Similarly, director Shawn Levy also seemingly didn't really understand how the story they were telling could be seen as weird because he went on to detail how they got Inez to deliver hundreds of different iterations of her dialogue. 

Many Reddit users were confused as to why Levy and Reynolds would share that strange story in the first place, or think that anyone would find it anything other than bizarre. One critic slammed the father of four for his decision, writing, "I don't care what the 'intent' was behind the line — it is overtly sexual and no kid has any business saying it, let alone in a movie made by their parent." 

They continued, "Being proud that you coerced your child into something like this is just gross. Meanwhile, another Redditor questioned why they couldn't have come up with a funny, age-appropriate line for Inez instead. All the drama has also led people to think back to Reynolds and Blake Lively's most controversial moments over the years, and it hasn't helped the actor's case in the slightest.