Ryan Reynolds appeared to make a subtle nod to his and wife Blake Lively’s, 37, ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni, 41, during a recent public appearance.

The Deadpool actor, 48, joked about spending time with lawyers in recent months while appearing at a panel at Stagwell’s Sport Beach at Cannes Lions 2025.

The reference came as he handed out water bottles to audience members at the event.

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“I’m not throwing this,” Reynolds said, per Page Six.

He then jokingly added, “I’ve been around lawyers. You can walk up here and grab it.”

The star was seemingly making a nod to the recent legal battle between Lively and her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni.

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The ongoing legal feud between Baldoni and Lively first erupted in December 2024, when Lively first fileda lawsuit.

She alleged that after being sexually harassed with inappropriate comments and behaviour on set, Baldoni’s team then orchestrated a smear campaign against her to ruin her reputation in the public sphere.

Baldoni denied Lively’s allegations and later countersued, accusing Lively and her husband, Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion and seeking at least US$400 million (AU$631,286,000) in damages.

Baldoni’s countersuit was ultimately dismissed earlier this month, which Lively’s lawyers claimed in a statement was “a total victory and a complete vindication”.

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However, Baldoni was still able to file an amended complaint against Reynolds and Lively on the allegations of tortious interference with contract and against Lively individually on the allegations of breach of implied covenant, which he confirmed he would do in a statement one day after the dismissal.

“The Court has invited us to amend four out of the seven claims against Ms. Lively, which will showcase additional evidence and refined allegations,” Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, responded in a statement to CNN.

“This case is about false accusations of sexual harassment and retaliation and a nonexistent smear campaign,” the statement continued.

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Reynolds’ comments come after a judge recently ruled Baldoni’s legal team is allowed to have access to messages between Lively and Taylor Swift, 35, deeming them “relevant” to the case.

Judge Lewis L. Liman wrote in a June 18 order: “Lively herself has identified Swift as someone likely to have knowledge about complaints or discussions regarding the working environment on the set of It Ends With Us,” as obtained and reported by E! News.

“Given that Lively has represented that Swift had knowledge of complaints or discussions about the working environment on the film, among other issues, the requests for messages with Swift regarding the film and this action are reasonably tailored to discover information that would prove or disprove Lively’s harassment and retaliation claims.”

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It comes with the condition that a protective order has to be placed on any of the celebrity friend’s correspondence to prevent leaks to the press.

One month ago, Baldoni and his team tried to subpoena the superstar to speak on the case, claiming she was used by Lively to leverage more creative control over the film.

While Baldoni directed the film, Lively was a producer on the project.

After the request was filed, Swift’s spokesperson released a statement saying: “Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.”

Following Swift’s response, Baldoni and his legal team withdrew the subpoena request.

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