Ryan Reynolds Made a Revealing Comment About Sexism Amid Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni’s Legal Battle

Ahead of the 2025 Golden Globe Awards, it was announced that Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and his Deadpool & Wolverine co-star Hugh Jackman weren’t going to attend. According to Deadline, they skipped the event because of the It Ends With Us “legal firestorm” that happened after Lively filed a complaint against her co-star, Justin Baldoni.

But, shortly after Lively’s complaint escalated to a full-fledge lawsuit, Reynolds made his first appearance since the scandal at the 2025 National Board of Review Gala.

At the star-studded event, Reynolds, who wore a dark grey suit with a silk lapel and a white button-down underneath, presented the Best Film award to Wicked.

“Wicked is indeed wicked,” Reynolds said of the box office hit starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as Glinda and Elphaba, per People. “It dares to center on two powerful women. It examines a nuanced, complex relationship which has resonated with people for over two decades on stage.”

His speech then continued with a reflection on sexism in Hollywood and the pressure women are under in society.

“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,” he said. “You must be perfect. You must must hide your strength. You must shape-shift or placate. But [Universal Pictures CCO] Donna Langley and Universal, they know where and with whom to place their trust, and it paid off in this film.”

But while Reynolds’ speech is quite revealing given his wife’s lawsuit and the backlash she’s received from the media prior to it, Reynolds continued then lightened the mood with his signature humor.

“I have one note,” he said. “I think we can all agree that Jonathan Bailey is objectively perfect. Perhaps too perfect. Personally, I would’ve preferred fewer scenes featuring Mr. Bailey.”

“Being good is great, but being great is bad. You can’t just go around indiscriminately spraying charisma all over an enraptured audience,” he joked. “It might feel nice in the moment but it could easily destabilize the entire industry.”

 “The HLMS, or Hollywood Leading Man Society, simply cannot sustain a standard of performance this high and it is in our collective best interest that Jonathan Bailey tone it the f— down,” Reynolds hilariously continued. “I cannot work harder than I already work and plastic surgery frightens me, Johnny … Let’s just pump the talent breaks or get out of f— town.”

All in all, it seems Reynolds won’t avoid making public appearances as long as it’s to advocate for women and female stories like Wicked. While it’s subtle, it shows how much of an advocate he is for women to be themselves and right what’s wrong in Hollywood – even if it means filing an explosive lawsuit.

In addition to Best Film, director Jon M. Chu was named Best Director and stars Grande and Erivo were given the NBR Spotlight Award at the 2025 NBR Gala.

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