Half a century ago, a defining question of the Watergate scandal was, “What did the President know and when did he know it?” Today, a surprising question has emerged in the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni legal saga: “What did Nicepool say, and when did he say it?”
On Tuesday, a letter from Baldoni attorney Bryan Freedman to Disney landed in the hands of the media. Freedman’s legal hold letter to Disney CEO Bob Iger and Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige — in which he addressed them as “Bob” and “Kevin” — asked the studio to preserve any documents regarding Baldoni and the creation of Nicepool, a minor character in Deadpool & Wolverine that internet sleuths (and Freedman himself) say star-writer-producer Ryan Reynolds used to mock Baldoni.
Disney and Marvel have not yet responded to Freedman, according to sources. It is unclear if the studio has even received the letter from the attorney, who is known both for his legal acumen and for spinning compelling narratives in the press. It’s also unclear why Iger and Feige would be targeted in the letter, as it stretches credulity to think the executives would be privy to any real-world backstory involving the creation of Nicepool — or that they were familiar with Baldoni before the It Ends with Us media storm. Marvel declined to comment.
Freedman sent the letter via FedEx on Jan. 7, the day the Palisades fire broke out. He’s among thousands who lost his in the blaze.
Freedman suggests work on Nicepool came as Reynolds’ wife, Lively, was in the midst of a contentious shoot with her It Ends with Us director-star Baldoni. She later filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him, while on Thursday, Baldoni sued Reynolds, Lively and Live’y’s publicist, Leslie Sloane.
So, how (and when) did Nicepool end up in the movie?
The character was developed before the rift between Lively and Baldoni, but sources tell THR that scenes involving Nicepool were…
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