‘My self-worth isn’t farmed out’: Ryan Reynolds has reality check for anyone who thinks scandal broke him

During what many can see as an extremely difficult time, actor Ryan Reynolds has shared his thoughts on his public image. The last year, specifically 2025, has been especially hard for Reynolds and his wife, Blake Lively, due to a highly publicized scandal connected to the movie It Ends With Us and Lively’s legal issues with director Justin Baldoni. However, Reynolds has made it clear that his sense of self-worth comes from his personal life and is not affected by the changing opinions of the public.

People’s view of the famous couple has become even more complicated because of everything revealed in the lawsuit, especially the insults about Taylor Swift. Another public issue was a joke Ryan Reynolds made on Saturday Night Live that many found offensive.

For most of this ongoing drama, Reynolds stayed unusually quiet, avoiding any direct response to what was happening. Now, after months of silence, the actor has finally spoken in a new interview with TIME, where he chose to talk about how public perception affects people in general rather than discussing the legal case itself.

Ryan Reynolds speaks about how people view him now

Reynolds did not go into details about the legal fight. Instead, he focused on how “tabloids and online discussions” can deeply influence how a person sees their own worth. He shared a strong belief about how public opinion works, pointing out that it often swings between extreme hate and extreme praise. For Reynolds, neither of these extremes actually says anything real about who he is.

He explained, “I can read something that says, ‘He should be drawn and quartered; I could read something that says I should win a Nobel Prize. Both are meaningless. None of us are comprised of our best moments. None of us are defined by our worst moments. We are something in the middle.”

He explained that this way of thinking isn’t just random for him but is deeply connected to his personal life. Being a father to four children and having a strong, steady marriage has, according to Reynolds, given him this unshakable sense of self. His family life is where he finds his real value, so it doesn’t depend on outside approval or the unpredictable opinions of the public. He deliberately keeps his self-worth tied to his home life, meaning it isn’t “handed over” to anything or anyone outside of it.