Ryan Reynolds cut off his best pal… to protect baby James’s privacy
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds enjoy sharing romantic snaps and fun selfies on social media, but when it comes to their nine-month-old daughter, they're staunchly private.
So private, in fact, that it took over three months before the pair even revealed her name – James.
The issue of safeguarding their daughter's personal life really came to a head a few months ago, when Ryan discovered one of his closest friends had attempted to sell pictures of little James online for cash.
Speaking in the new issue of GQ, the actor admitted it was a huge betrayal from one of his closest pals.
"A guy that I’d known for my whole life, one of my closest friends growing up, he had been shopping pictures of my baby around," Ryan revealed.
"I kind of got in front of it, which is good. But it was a slightly dark period. A bad couple of weeks."
The friend wasn't just an acquaintance, Ryan was clear to emphasise. "Somebody I grew up with, yeah…Somebody I’ve known, who’s been one of my closest friends, for 25 years."
The star couple made the discovery after photos proud dad Ryan had sent to a small group of friends and family suddenly went public.
"[He did it] just for money. I mean, I don’t think he thought he would ever be caught. But it’s a pretty narrow group of people that I would send photos like that to. They’re just, like, my closest family and my closest friends: ‘Here’s us in the delivery room!'" he elaborated.
Despite constantly being in the public eye, the Deadpool star said he took the incident very personally.
"It was like a death. It was like one of those devastating things to find out."
And is there any chance of a reconciliation? No, Ryan admits.
"It’s just, ‘Oh, well, now I’m never going to see you or talk to you again, unfortunately.’ That’s kind of how it worked out."
