Ryan Reynolds has revealed how he caught one of his closest friends trying to sell private pictures of his daughter to the media.
The actor has said that he cut the friend – whom he’d known for 25 years – out his life after discovering the devastating betrayal shortly after the birth of baby James.
Speaking to GQ, Reynolds revealed that he found out the trusted friend had been shopping pictures from the delivery room at the hospital around to tabloids.
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Proud pop: Ryan Reynolds appears on the cover of the latest issue of GQ; inside, he opens up about life with his eight-month-old daughter, James
Reynolds and wife Blake Lively fiercely protected their daughter following her arrival in December and have only shared glimpses of the little girl on social media – so realizing a trusted friend was attempting to make some fast cash was ‘shocking’, the Green Lantern actor said.
‘There isn’t really a conversation to have. 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.’
‘It was a slightly dark period. A bad couple of weeks,’ the 38-year-old told the magazine. ‘It was like a death.’
Aside from dealing with betrayal of a friend, Reynolds said that he has really taken to fatherhood, and is still marveling over how completely dedicated he is to his little one.
‘I’ve learned that an inordinate amount of clichés are completely true,’ he said in a new interview with the magazine. ‘Like, there is this kid here that I would walk through fire for. Or maybe not fire. Like, a very hot pavement, I’d walk through. A shag rug.’
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Changed man: Ryan admits he’s been surprised by how patient he is with his baby daughter and how much he enjoys the every day rituals of looking after her
Ryan’s life with Blake and James in their home in upstate Bedford, New York – where their $2.35 million, 4,753 square foot house includes a renovated barn and a porch – seems completely idyllic. But Ryan said that he didn’t have it quite so perfect growing up, explaining that his relationship with his father wasn’t ‘easy’.
However, he added, he doesn’t think that having examples of good fathers in your life is necessary to being one yourself. It’s really just about being there for your kid – which Ryan believes he’s doing a good job at.
‘I’m surprised how patient I am with it,’ he said. ‘I feel like I could sometimes have a bit of a short fuse, but there’s just been this weirdly endless supply of patience.
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Private pics: Very few pictures have been shared of James – and this one, which Blake Lively posted on Instagram for Father’s Day, received criticism for the way Ryan has ‘incorrectly’ positioned the baby
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Making babies: Ryan (pictured with his wife, Blake), said he loves being a dad and wants to have more kids
‘I have no problem waking up five times in the middle of the night and changing diapers, and as exhausted as you get, I have this stupid grin on my face all the time. And that’s not because I have a nanny or something like that. It’s just us right now, and I love it.’
Being new to fatherhood has also given him the the ‘profound’ realization of how much his own parents did for him. There was a time when they did everything that he is now doing for James – changing diapers in the middle of the night, getting no sleep, and so on – and understanding that has given him even more respect for his mom and dad.
But just because he’s more than happy to dote on his daughter doesn’t mean he’s going to be one of those parents who acts like his offspring are the center of the universe.
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Happy daddy: He has been surprised at how patient he is as a father, even when it means getting up five times in the middle of the night to change James’ diaper
‘I get why parents have that sort of predisposition to talk about their child as if they’re the only people that have ever copulated and pumped out a kid. I understand that. I don’t f***ing fall victim to it, because, especially celebrities, when they talk about their kid, they talk about their kid like they’re the Chosen One, or they’re the only people who have ever had a child,’ he said.
He went on: ‘In fact, every time I talk about my kid in public, I’m generally talking about how average she is. But at home, I’m like, “You’re a genius! Oh, my God! You just took a s** in your diaper that came out as a perfect musical note!”‘
Another reason that he and Blake are less inclined to say too much publicly about their baby is that sharing even a little opens the floodgates to criticism. The couple takes a lot of care to keep their private life private, and to date they’ve only shared two pictures of James: One showing just her hand, and another, which Blake posted on Father’s Day, showing just her feet.
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Betrayal: The 38-year-old actor reveals that he had to end a friendship with someone he’d known for 25 years after that person tried to sell private photos of James to the media
Unfortunately, the reaction to the latter image seemed to reinforce their decision to remain private. The picture showed Ryan holding James in a baby carrier, her feet dangling apart – which, several commenters noted, was not the correct position for the newborn.
After facing criticism online, Matt Lauer even ended up asking Ryan about the snap on the Today Show. The whole situation made Ryan wish he could everyone would ‘f*** off’, he said. The new dad wants to be able to make the same mistakes that other new parents make, without facing backlash from thousands of strangers.
The extra hurdles of raising a child in the public eye haven’t changed how Ryan feels about having a family, though. In fact, he admitted, he’d really like to have more kids – that’s plural – in the future.
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Not bragging: Ryan also said that he tries to resist the urge to act like his daughter is ‘the Chosen One’, as so many celebrities do
