Ryan Reynolds and his legal team filed a motion to dismiss Justin Baldoni‘s complaint against the actor on Tuesday, claiming that his accusations claiming Reynolds called Baldoni “a predator” do not qualify as examples of defamation. 

“The entirety of Mr. Baldoni’s case appears to be based on Mr. Reynolds allegedly privately calling Mr. Baldoni a ‘predator,’ but here is the problem: that is not defamation unless they can show that Mr. Reynolds did not believe that statement to be true,” said a statement from Reynolds’ attorneys, Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, to Entertainment Weekly. “The complaint doesn’t allege that, and just the opposite, the allegations in the complaint suggest that Mr. Reynolds genuinely believes Mr. Baldoni is a predator.”

The Deadpool & Wolverine star is asking a judge to drop him as a defendant in Justin Baldoni‘s defamation lawsuit, arguing that the It Ends With Us director cannot sue him over “hurt feelings.”

The filing — obtained and reviewed by EW — argues that based on the evidence presented in Baldoni’s complaint, “Mr. Reynolds genuinely, perhaps passionately, believes that Mr. Baldoni’s behavior is reflective of a ‘predator.'” It further asserts that even if Reynolds does not believe Baldoni is a “predator,” calling him one “amounts to constitutionally protected opinion.”

The motion also addresses the claim that the Nicepool character featured in Reynolds’ Deadpool & Wolverine film was used to mock Baldoni’s public persona. Reynolds’s lawyers argues that Baldoni’s “thin-skinned outrage over a movie character does not even pretend to be tied to any legal claims” and instead is just Baldoni alleging that he has “hurt feelings.”

The filing additionally states that despite Reynolds’ wife, Blake Lively, engaging in an ongoing legal battle with Baldoni and his business associates, Reynolds has “nothing” to do with the situation beyond being a “supportive spouse.”

“Mr. Reynolds’ wife has accused Mr. Baldoni — privately and in multiple complaints — of sexual harassment and retaliation,” said Reynolds’ attorneys. “Mr. Reynolds has a First Amendment right to express his opinion of Mr. Baldoni, which should be comforting to a group of people who have repeatedly called Ms. Lively and Mr. Reynolds ‘bullies’ and other names over the past year.”

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In a statement to TMZ, Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman slammed Reynolds’ motion to dismiss, stating, “After lighting a match, Mr. Reynolds now seeks to run from the flames. It won’t work.”

He continued, “Mr. Reynolds was a key player in the scheme, defaming Justin around Hollywood, strong-arming WME into dropping Justin as a client, and trying to destroy Justin’s career however possible. His fingerprints have been all over this smear campaign against Justin and the Wayfarer team since day one. Mr. Reynolds now attempts to reduce plainly cognizable claims to ‘hurt feelings’, sending a clear message that bullying is acceptable.”

He went on to reference Reynolds’ SNL50 appearance, stating, “The claims against him are real, and they are serious. Mr. Reynolds can appear on as many sketch shows as he wants and feebly try to make light of his current situation, but we will not stop until he is held accountable for his actions.”

Representatives for Baldoni did not immediately respond to EW’s request for comment.

In January, Baldoni filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively and Reynolds over the heated situation behind the scenes of It Ends With Us. In it, he accused the couple of hijacking the film and orchestrating a smear campaign against him, alleging defamation, civil extortion, and breach of contract.

Lively filed her own lawsuit against Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios after she lodged a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department in December, accusing her costar and director of sexual harassment on set and orchestrating a smear campaign against her.