Rob McElhenney has offered support to his friend Ryan Reynolds and the Deadpool star’s wife, Blake Lively, amid their legal battle with actor and director Justin Baldoni.
Speaking to Variety in an interview that also featured his wife and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-star, Kaitlin Olson, McElhenney said they are doing their best to support the couple during this “difficult and challenging” period.
“It’s just our way of staying connected and navigating something together,” McElhenney, who co-owns Wrexham Football Club with Reynolds, told the publication.
“And also me giving and showing as much support as I possibly can with all the other stuff that [Reynolds] has got going on, that I know is so difficult and challenging. We both are just trying to offer our support in any way that we can that doesn’t just simply add oxygen to the fire.”
When the news of the dispute between Lively and Baldoni first emerged, Olson shared a message on an Instagram reel writing: “@blakelively is a kind, lovely, honest and generous person (and an incredible mom) FYI.”
Lively has claimed that she was sexually harassed by Baldoni, 41, on the set of the Colleen Hoover adaptation, It Ends With Us (2024). Meanwhile, Baldoni claims that Lively and Reynolds attempted to destroy his career by exaggerating “benign interactions” to make it appear as if Lively was harassed.
Baldoni has denied the accusations and filed a countersuit on 16 January accusing Lively and Reynolds of civil extortion, defamation, invasion of privacy, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional interference with contractual relations, interference with prospective economic advantage and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage.
His lawyers have also accused Reynolds of mocking Baldoni through the “Nicepool” character in his recent movie Deadpool & Wolverine. Baldoni is also suing The New York Times for libel over its reporting of Lively’s claims.
In January, a New York federal judge informed both parties to prepare for a trial in March 2026. Attorneys for Lively and Reynolds filed a notice stating that they would seek to dismiss Baldoni’s countersuit.
Earlier this month, while speaking on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Lively said: “What I can say without going too into it is that this year has been the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in my life and I see so many women around afraid to speak, especially right now, afraid to share their experiences, and fear is by design.
“It's what keeps us silent. But I also acknowledge that many people don't have the opportunity to speak.
“So, I do feel fortunate that I've been able to and as a woman, you have the ability to use your voice – that's kept me strong and helped me in my belief and my fight for the world to be safer for women and girls. It's a pretty simple thing.”
McElhenney and Reynolds both co-own Welsh football club Wrexham and have been synonymous with each other since purchasing the team in 2021 thanks to the hit documentary series Welcome to Wrexham. In April 2025, Wrexham gained promotion to the Championship, the second-highest tier in the English football pyramid.
