Ryan Reynolds asked a court to dismiss Justin Baldoni's legal claims against him, saying the actor cannot sue him over "hurt feelings".
Reynolds was accused in the lawsuit of mocking and bullying Baldoni by using the character of Nicepool in Deadpool & Wolverine to satirise Baldoni's "woke feminist" image.
In a motion to dismiss on Tuesday, Reynolds' lawyers did not dispute that Nicepool is based on Baldoni, but said that Baldoni had shown "thin-skinned outrage" by complaining about it.
Baldoni directed It Ends With Us, in which he and Reynold's wife Blake Lively co-star.
After the film's release last summer, Lively accused Baldoni of sexually harassing her on set, and using his publicists to spread negative stories about her.
Baldoni countersued her and Reynolds, alleging they were trying to destroy his career with false allegations.
In the lawsuit, Baldoni alleged that Reynolds had berated him for allegedly "fat shaming" Lively.
He also accused Reynolds of calling him a "sexual predator" and of pressuring his agency to drop him as a client.
In the motion to dismiss, Reynolds' lawyers argue that that is not defamation if Reynolds genuinely believes it.
The "allegations suggest that Mr Reynolds genuinely, perhaps passionately, believes that Mr Baldoni's behaviour is reflective of a 'predator,'" the motion states.