Ryan Reynolds made a surprise appearance at the opening night of pal Hugh Jackman’s Radio City Music Hall concert series on Friday as he and his wife, Blake Lively, continue their legal battle against Justin Baldoni.
Reynolds made his grand entrance toward the end of the show — titled “From New York, With Love” — when Jackman engaged in an impromptu Q&A session with those in the audience.
“I was told this was going to be a comedy version of ‘Les Mis’ as a one-man show. We all said it was a terrible idea but he carried on. I see he’s duped me once again!” the “Deadpool” star joked of his pal, per People.
Reynolds, 48, delivered a few more jokes before honoring the actor with a touching speech.
“This was the first major movie star I ever worked with, 16 or 17 years ago on ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine,’” he started. “And I was young still. I was impressionable. I was expecting going to this movie set with this guy right here, and I didn’t know, I really didn’t know what was gonna happen. … But what I saw was just about the best thing anyone could possibly experience if you’re working your way up in the industry.”
“I saw a movie star, a capital M movie star… I saw this gentleman right here walk around that set, and just like here, he knew every single person’s name, even though he was making them up half the time.”
Reynolds continued, “He showed a kind of courtesy and gentleness and curiosity, and he put value into every single crew member that we were working with.”
Before he finished his message, the actor called Jackman his “gotcha for life.”
“And I know we were supposed to finish this bit where these two security gentlemen come and they try to take the mic for me — it’s like a struggle, and then they tase me and I go down, and then they hog-tie me and then they put me in the Radio City music garbage dump, and then they just light it on fire. But I wanted to actually just say, I love this man, I care about this man. He is, he is genuinely the best human being I know. And I have 4 children!” Reynolds said, earning him an “I love you” from the man onstage.
Reynolds’ sighting comes after he was thrown into his wife’s ongoing legal battle with her “It Ends With Us” co-star.
In their latest move, the couple asked the court for a protective order to stop Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman from releasing discovery materials regarding the case to the press. Baldoni is countersuing Lively and Reynolds for $400 million after the “Gossip Girl” alum filed a formal lawsuit against him for alleged sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and lost wages.
The pair sent a letter to Judge Lewis J. Liman alleging that Freedman’s comments could “taint the jury pool” if Lively’s sexual harassment case were to end up in court.
“As Ms. Lively’s counsel have attempted, repeatedly, to caution Mr. Freedman, federal litigation must be conducted in court and according to the relevant rules of professional conduct,” the letter states, per several outlets.
