(NewsNation) — Justin Baldoni lawyer Bryan Freedman sent a litigation hold letter to Marvel and Disney demanding they retain all documents related to the various characters Ryan Reynolds played in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” Variety reported.

Earlier this month during an appearance on “The Megyn Kelly Show,” Freedman said there’s “no question” Ryan Reynolds was “making fun” of Baldoni with his “Nicepool” character in the film.

Audiences have speculated “Nicepool” was inspired by Baldoni’s apparent pseudo-nice guy persona, Deadline reported.

“What I make of that is that if your wife is sexually harassed, you don’t make fun of Justin Baldoni,” said Freedman on “The Megyn Kelly Show.” “There’s no question it relates to Justin. I mean, anybody that watched that hair bun — if somebody is seriously sexually harassed, you don’t make fun of it. It’s a serious issue.”

The legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni

A New York Times article outlining the alleged sexual harassment endured by actress Blake Lively demonstrates “a reckless disregard for the truth,” Freedman previously told NewsNation’s “CUOMO.”

Freedman, who has worked with NewsNation host Chris Cuomo before, brought his perspective to the ongoing legal battle between Blake Lively and her “It Ends With Us” co-star and director, including what he called “unbelievable” text messages cited by the publication.

“He is my lawyer, and he is a trusted friend and mentor to me,” Cuomo noted before the interview. “I want you to know that going into this.”

Freedman says the evidence in “’We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine” is primarily text messages and emails, many of which he says were “skewed” or taken out of context, allegedly by Lively’s team.

He told NewsNation he plans to release “what the young kids call receipts” and make the text messages between Baldoni and Lively fully public.

Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni: Lawsuit timeline

On Dec. 31, Lively sued Baldoni along with several others. The federal lawsuit, filed in New York, alleges harassment and a coordinated smear campaign following her discussion of on-set treatment.

Lively’s suit said that Baldoni, the film’s production company Wayfarer Studios and others engaged in “a carefully crafted, coordinated, and resourced retaliatory scheme to silence her, and others, from speaking out.”

Her legal action came just hours after Baldoni and other defendants sued The New York Times for libel regarding its story, published Dec. 21, 2024. The Times story detailed a sexual harassment complaint against Baldoni, among other on-set allegations.

Just days later, Baldoni was hit with a lawsuit from former publicist Steph Jones.

Jones accuses Baldoni of breaching their contract, which required him to pay her $25,000 per month, and for leaving to work with two former employees, Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, who formed their own rival public relations company, reported Variety.

Jones alleges Nathan and Abel launched Lively’s online teardown behind her back, according to the outlet.

The lawsuits are major developments in a story emerging from the surprise hit film that has already made major waves in Hollywood and led to discussions of the treatment of female actors both on sets and in media.

The New York Times responds to Freedman

The New York Times shared the following statement with NewsNation regarding Freedman’s comments:

“The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead. 

“Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article. Those texts and emails were also the crux of a discrimination claim filed in California by Blake Lively against Justin Baldoni and his associates. 

“To address some inaccuracies in the lawsuit, when seeking comments from Mr. Baldoni and others who would be mentioned in the article, The Times shared the information that we intended to publish, including references to specific text messages and documents, asked them to identify any inaccuracies, provide additional context and speak with our team.  

“Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer and the other subjects chose not to have any conversations with The Times or address any of the specific text messages or documents and instead emailed a joint response, which was published in full. (Also, they sent their response to The Times at 11:16pm ET Dec 20th, not at 2:16am ET Dec 21st as the complaint says.) 

“We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.” 

NewsNation’s Anna Kutz and Safia Samee Ali and The Associated Press contributed to this report.