When it comes to friendship, there are certain rules and regulations one must follow to keep everyone happy and maintain trust. Well, clearly someone forgot to send that memo to Ryan Reynolds' best friend, because the violated bro code in the worst way. Not only did his best bud go behind his back, but he also got the actor's baby daughter involved. The traitor attempted to sell photos of Reynolds' daughter James with his with Blake Lively, causing a scandal between the two of them.
Reynolds and Lively welcomed their daughter James into the world in December 2014. Learning the value of privacy from their own celebrity persona, they tried to hold onto their baby's innocence by shielding her from paparazzi and the public. It wasn't until May 2015 that fans were allowed to get a small glimpse of their bundle of joy, when the 38-year-old Woman in Gold actor posted a photo to his Instagram. Fans and media alike went crazy over the adorable image of baby James grasping her father's thumb with her whole hand.
Since making her Instagram debut, the couple has decided to keep their personal photos of their daughter sacred. The 28-year-old The Age of Adaline actress and her husband only shared their precious documented memories of their daughter with close family and friends, but there was one close friend in particular who had an ulterior motive.
A photo posted by Ryan Reynolds (@vancityreynolds) on May 14, 2015 at 9:47am PDT
"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," Reynolds said to GQ. "I kind of got in front of it, which is good. But it was a slightly dark period. A bad couple of weeks."
A childhood pal Reynolds knew for nearly 25 years was on a mission to turn a personal photo and use it as public commodity for the highest bidder. Reynolds' believes money was the only motivation behind his desperate act. The actor had no problem lending his friend money in the past, which was another reason why he was shocked by his actions. When it comes to trust, it's easier to lose it than to gain it back.
"Yeah, 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 said.
The Canada native revealed the entire situation was a hard thing to swallow. He admitted he never went through an ordeal quite like this before and it ultimately made him feel like "death."
He remembers having a very heavy worded conversation with the man who stabbed him in the back, which could only be code for: a very intense conversation with an equal amount of yelling and cursing. The whole scandal left Reynolds hesitant about sending anymore pictures out to friends or family. He's now looking towards the future, hoping to leave this drama in the past.
"No. It was, like, so kind of shocking. There isn't really a conversation to have," he said. "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."
