Ryan Reynolds Makes First Public Appearance Amid Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni’s Legal Battle
Ryan Reynolds is pushing back on unattainable expectations.
Amid his wife Blake Lively and It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni’s ongoing legal dispute surrounding alleged sexual harassment on the set of Colleen Hoover‘s adaptation, the Deadpool star took a moment to address unfair standards for women.
In a speech at the National Board of Review Awards Jan. 7 in New York, the 48-year-old—who shares kids James, 10, Inez, 8, Betty, 5, and Olin, born in 2023 with Lively—shared a feminist message while reflecting on the critical and box office success of Wicked.
“It dares to center on two powerful women,” Reynolds said. “It examines a nuanced, complex relationship which has resonated with people for over two decades on stage. 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. You must be perfect. You must hide your strength. You must shape-shift or placate.”
And the Green Lantern actor lauded Universal Pictures and its chairman Donna Langley, adding, “They know where and with whom to place their trust, and it paid off in this film.”
Reynolds’ message about the impossible expectations for women, onscreen and off, come just a week after Lively filed a lawsuit in New York against Justin for sexual harassment and an alleged smear campaign he and his associates waged against her.
