Ryan Reynolds claimed director Justin Baldoni ‘fat shamed’ his wife Blake Lively, court documents allege

A bitter Hollywood feud has deepened with claims that Ryan Reynolds accused a director of “fat shaming” the actor’s wife Blake Lively.

The accusations, made in a lawsuit against The New York Times on Tuesday, emerged in a row that has pitched Lively against Justin Baldoni, her director and co-star in the film It Ends With Us.

Hours later, Lively filed her own federal lawsuit in New York against Baldoni, 40, and several others associated with the film, alleging harassment and a co-ordinated campaign to attack her reputation because she spoke out about her treatment on the set.

The suit filed by Baldoni and nine other plaintiffs claims that Reynolds, the star of huge hits such as Deadpool, accused Baldoni of “fat shaming” Lively during a heated encounter at the couple’s penthouse in New York.

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It says that the director asked how much 37-year-old Lively weighed because he had back problems and wanted to make sure he would be able to lift her, as required in a scene in the movie.

But the question allegedly infuriated Reynolds. “The confrontation that followed was so aggressive that Baldoni felt compelled to offer repeated apologies,” it was claimed in the lawsuit filed against The New York Times.

One of the film’s producers, who was present at the encounter, is quoted as saying “that in his 40-year career he had never seen anyone speak to someone like that”.

Lively subsequently refused to perform the scene in which she was meant to be lifted by Baldoni, it is alleged.