Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively have been in the spotlight more than ever over the past two years.
After the release of It Ends With Us in 2024, Blake, 38, and her co-star Justin Baldoni, who was also the movie's director and one of its producers, have been embroiled in a tense legal battle concerning allegations of sexual harassment and defamation.
© Getty ImagesJust earlier this month, a judge dismissed 10 of the 13 claims that Blake filed against Justin, 42, although allowed the other three (breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting to retaliation) to proceed to trial next month, with Justin denying them all.
Also involved in the matter is Ryan, 49, as Blake's husband and frequent collaborator, who has been named in several of the documents. While the couple have rarely spoken about the lawsuit, during an appearance on Sunday Sitdown with TODAY's Willie Geist, Ryan shared his praise for his wife.
"Never in my life been more proud"
"The spotlight has its benefits, but it can be hard too. You and Blake, for the last year and half, have gone through this very public legal proceeding," Willie asked the actor during the episode, which aired on April 19 (and was recorded live on April 7). "How have you guys managed that as a family?"
"You really see kind of the illusion behind so much of this stuff, you know?" Ryan responded. "Digital life versus real life," before affirming that he was nothing but supportive of Blake.
"Without getting into too much, I'll just say, I've never in my life been more proud of my wife," the Maximum Effort co-founder gushed. "People have no idea what's really going on, you know? And I've just never in my life been more proud of someone with that level of integrity that brings that with them and carries that with them in everything that they do."
© Getty ImagesFamily above all
At a different point during their conversation, when speaking of Parkinson's disease, in particular losing his father James to the condition in 2015, he emphasized just how much his family meant to him. Ryan and Blake share daughters James, 11, Inez, nine, and Betty, six, plus youngest son Olin, three.
"My wife and kids are everything. I mean, that's it," Ryan said. "When we finally close our eyes to this mortal dumb show, those are the ones that are going to matter, you know?"
© Getty ImagesTheir conversation around mortality also pivoted to Ryan's upcoming milestone, with the Deadpool & Wolverine actor set to turn 50 this October, with him joking that they'll be having a "check-your-prostate party" to celebrate.
"I think about that stuff all the time. I'm 49 now," he added on a more serious note. "I really think that knowing yourself is the greatest superpower on earth, you know? I don't shy away from it."
© Getty ImagesWillie, who himself turned 50 last year, similarly noted: "I found it was a good sort of milestone of, like, 'How am I doing?'"
