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an hour ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
To Gin & Glory - Aviation American Gin and Wrexham AFC Team Up to Unveil Limited-Edition Commemorative Pack
Aviation American Gin Raises a Glass in Celebration of the Club's Return to the Championship PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Aviation American Gin is releasing a limited-edition commemorative pack to celebrate Wrexham AFC's return to the Championship and historic third consecutive promotion. As a proud, longtime supporter of the club, Aviation has shared in Wrexham's journey - the victories, the global rise, and the deep connection between team and fans. Just like Wrexham AFC, Aviation American Gin has never followed the traditional playbook. It's an unconventional spirit for an unconventional team, and this release is a tribute to the grit, resilience, and heart that carried the club to the next level. The Aviation American Gin x Wrexham AFC Commemorative Pack celebrates the club's historic wins with a specialty 750mL limited-edition bottle and thoughtfully designed packaging. The bottle reimagines Aviation American Gin's iconic design with custom elements that honor the spirit of the club - including a textured, patch-like label featuring a large crest representing Wrexham's heritage and a distinctive red strip stamp down the neck honoring the legendary Turf Pub, a beloved local spot central to the team's community. Complementing the bottle, the pack includes scale-print patterns inspired by Wrexham's promotion-winning jerseys, a QR code granting access to a sweepstakes and exclusive content, and a Wrexham bottle scarf, making it a must-have collector's item for fans of both the club and the gin. "Wrexham AFC has defied the odds and built a global fanbase through persistence, passion, and community," said Ricky Collett, Global Brand Director for Aviation American Gin. "And at Aviation, we know what it means to redefine expectations - like reimagining how deliciously versatile Gin can be. As a partner that's been with the team every step of the way, we're proud to raise a glass to this new chapter and bottle the glory." The limited-edition bottle is filled with the same crisp, smooth Aviation American Gin fans know and love, and to celebrate the collaboration, Aviation American Gin crafted four signature cocktail recipes - Negroni By The Turf, All Or Nothing Bloody Mary, Up The Town Fizz, and Dirty Dragon. In addition to the launch of the commemorative pack, Aviation American Gin is giving fans an exclusive opportunity to experience Wrexham AFC like never before. One lucky winner and a guest (both age 25+) will receive round-trip travel to Wales, premium tickets to a Wrexham home match, a private stadium tour, a visit to the legendary Turf Pub, and accommodations in Wrexham*. Whether displayed proudly on your shelf, gifted to a fellow supporter, or raised in celebration after a big match, this limited-edition release lets you own a piece of football history and the spirit that fuels it. Starting August 19, the pack will be available while supplies last at retailers nationwide, online, and at the Aviation American Gin Portland Distillery at the same price as the traditional Aviation American Gin offering. For more information, visit and follow @AviationGin on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Hi-res press images and assets available [here]. Aviation American Gin [42% Alc/Vol. Imported by Diageo, New York, NY] reminds you to drink responsibly. *For more information on the sweepstakes, please visit: ABOUT AVIATION AMERICAN GINAviation American Gin is one of the world's highest rated gins and helped establish a new style of American gin. Crafted with a blend of botanicals delivering an approachable and balanced flavor profile, Aviation American Gin is a versatile spirit, perfect for any cocktail occasion. Created by a unique bartender / distiller partnership and now co-owned by actor and entrepreneur Ryan Reynolds, Aviation American Gin operates a distillery, packaging facility and visitor experience in Portland, OR. ABOUT DIAGEODiageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands across spirits and beer categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness. Diageo is a global company, and our products are sold in nearly 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and the New York Stock Exchange (DEO). For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice. Celebrating life, every day, everywhere. ABOUT WREXHAM AFCWrexham Association Football Club is based in Wrexham, North Wales, and after an historic, record-breaking three consecutive promotions will next season compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league pyramid. Formed in 1864, they are the oldest Club in Wales and the third oldest professional team in the world. Wrexham have won the Welsh Cup a record 23 times and beaten some of the biggest clubs in the game in the English FA Cup and UEFA European Cup Winners Cup. The STōK Cae Ras, home to Wrexham AFC, is the world's oldest international stadium that continues to host international games. Wrexham AFC is owned by Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds. The goal of the new owners is to grow the team and establish Wrexham AFC as a Premier League club in front of increased attendances, and in an improved stadium, while making a positive difference to the wider community in Wrexham. This goal is being pursued through four guiding principles: i) to protect the heritage of Wrexham AFC; ii) to reinforce the values of the community; iii) to use Rob and Ryan's resources to grow the exposure of the Club at home and abroad; and iv) to create a winning culture. For more information, please visit MEDIA CONTACTS:aviation@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Aviation American Gin Sign in to access your portfolio
Time Magazine
26-06-2025
- Business
- Time Magazine
How Ryan Reynolds Rewrote the Script for Celebrity Entrepreneurs
Pari Dukovic for TIME Ryan Reynolds is trying to focus on our conversation. But all he can think about is the script pulled up on his laptop. The screenwriting software Final Draft has frozen so he can't plug in his latest ideas for a project that he has asked me not to share. He reluctantly abandons his computer but can't help but fidget. Reynolds knows he'll only have a few hours later to return to the story before he's on dad duty. 'I'm obsessive,' he says. 'Even right now I'm thinking what I have after you, and if I can get back to it again.' His schedule after our interview is packed: a business meeting; someone is coming to fix Final Draft; then a walk-and-talk with Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy to discuss Levy's upcoming Star Wars movie starring the other Ryan—Gosling. We're sitting in the Tribeca home Reynolds shares with his wife, actor and entrepreneur Blake Lively, and their four children. The living area is lit by lamps with fringed shades, and the walls are covered in moody paintings that evoke Madonna and Child. Even the TV sits in a museum-worthy frame. Behind him, a bottle of Aviation Gin, one of many now-lucrative companies Reynolds invested in, sits prominently on a kitchen counter. While most people know him as the sardonic superhero Deadpool, Reynolds is also a wildly successful businessperson. Plenty of celebrities attach themselves to products. But Reynolds' production company and marketing firm Maximum Effort is a viral content machine. He takes hefty stakes in seemingly disparate small companies, promotes them—and has them promote each other—with playful quick-turn ads he calls 'fastvertising,' and then sells the businesses for millions. He has invested in Aviation Gin, the discount telecommunications company Mint Mobile, Welsh soccer team Wrexham AFC, and the cybersecurity app 1Password—to name a few. The companies he co-owns or has sold are valued at over $14 billion, according to Forbes . Reynolds has carried over his Hollywood playbook to the world of advertising: respect the audience's intelligence and have a little fun. 'Consumers know they're being marketed to, so acknowledge it,' he says. Levy, who has made three movies with Reynolds, believes that Reynolds' ability to create narratives for his businesses is his friend's superpower. 'He's really identified a core component to entrepreneurial success,' Levy says. 'And it connects back to our day jobs, which is storytelling.' He built this empire on his specific and identifiable brand: Reynolds is the popular guy, blessed with Canadian affability and a cynical sense of humor. He frequently collaborates with celebrities like Hugh Jackman and Channing Tatum with whom he seems to have developed genuine friendships. He and his famous wife flirt online. His social media is perfectly calibrated: he's either writing self-consciously sophomoric posts on social media about shots of monkey penises in a nature docuseries he's producing or pranking Wrexham AFC co-owner and fellow actor Rob McElhenney. He knows when to deploy snark and when to be earnest. And after years as a movie star, he's built a public profile that's less heartthrob and more everydad: He sports glasses gifted to him by David Beckham and loves to crack jokes about how, now that he's pushing 50, he won't always be able to squeeze into the skin-tight Deadpool suit. Reynolds does admit to a deep-rooted need to be liked—probably related to being the youngest of four brothers vying for validation from a withholding cop father. 'I am people-pleasing by default, as is my wife, as are our first two children,' he says.'The third was, you know, born flipping the bird. And the fourth is TBD.' Reynolds knows the trait is a double-edged sword: 'Your boundaries can kind of melt and that's not necessarily healthy.' When Reynolds drops his kids off at school, he likes to remind them, 'Disappoint one person today!'' Reynolds admits he struggles to follow his own advice. But at least he's figured out a way to channel this perceived weakness into a strength: He knows how to charm A-listers, CEOs, and—crucially—the consumer. In another life, Reynolds would have been the chief marketing officer of a Fortune 500 company. He just happened to become one of the world's biggest movie stars instead. Photograph by Pari Dukovic for TIME Buy a copy of the TIME100 Companies issue here Reynolds spent 45 minutes at college before he dropped out and drove to Los Angeles with dreams of joining the famed improv group The Groundlings, only to be told he'd need to pay for classes. Undeterred, Reynolds eventually found a steady gig on the sitcom Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place and established a reputation for playing smart alecs that carried over into comedies like Van Wilder and The Proposal . 'I didn't get famous until I was older,' Reynolds says. (For reference, he was named Sexiest Man Alive by People Magazine at 34.) 'Thank God. I would be dead if it happened in my early 20s.' His transition to superhero, a rite of passage for leading men in Hollywood in the '00s, was rocky. He snagged supporting roles in Blade: Trinity and X-Men Origins: Wolverine . In the latter, he played Deadpool—a fourth-wall-breaking wiseacre that perfectly aligned with Reynolds' sense of humor—only for the writers to make the bizarre decision to sew the character's mouth shut. It took more than 10 years for Reynolds to push his version of the Merc With a Mouth onto the big screen—and only after test footage for a Deadpool solo film mysteriously leaked online and went viral, forcing the studio's hand. Fox granted Deadpool a relatively small budget. That was fine by Reynolds. After starring in the 2011 box office bomb Green Lantern he learned that bloat is the enemy of creativity. 'I saw a lot of money being spent on special effects, all sorts of stuff. And I remember suggesting, 'Why don't we write a scene the way people would talk? I don't know, it could be a fun exchange of dialogue that doesn't cost anything?'' The flop also taught him to take control of his own destiny. 'When it failed, it's not the director's name out there. It's my name,' he says. 'I want to be the architect of my own demise or the author of my own success.' Reynolds put his money where his (no-longer-sewn-shut) mouth was. He paid to fly the writers to the Deadpool set because he needed to work with them in person to finesse the movie's comedic tone. With a modest budget, Reynolds drove crowds to the 2016 movie with surprising strategies like advertising on Tinder. Last year, the third entry in the franchise, Deadpool & Wolverine , became the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever, grossing $1.3 billion dollars and saving the flagging Marvel Studios from a grim year at the 2024 box office. Despite Deadpool's massive cultural footprint, Green Lantern remains his toddler son's favorite film. Ryan Reynolds greets fans during the Deadpool & Wolverine World Premiere on July 22, 2024 in New York City. Noam Galai—Disney/Getty Images Maximum Effort, co-founded in 2018 with former Fox head of digital theatrical marketing George Dewey and named for a line in Deadpool , was forged from the bootstrap promotion of the first film. 'Maximum Effort' also serves as Reynolds' life motto. 'I can't say I've invested every cell of my body into something that failed,' he admits. 'The things that I've failed at, I usually didn't fully believe in.' That same year, Reynolds invested in Aviation Gin. Rather than just lending his face to the brand, Reynolds pitched a cheeky marketing strategy that riffed on his own persona—he filmed a Father's Day commercial in which he invented a cocktail called 'the vasectomy.' Maximum Effort's 50-some employees frequently collaborate with MNTN, the advertising platform for which Reynolds serves as chief creative officer. Mark Douglas, MNTN's CEO, recently had lunch with Reynolds and ambassadors from a brand. 'They were describing themselves and what they do, and right at the table he created a commercial in front of them,' Douglas says. 'He just imagined how he would tell this story in 30 seconds on television.' The year after Reynolds' investment, Aviation increased its volumes by 100%. The U.K.-based Diageo bought the liquor company for $610 million in 2020. Next, Reynolds bought 25% of Mint Mobile, a discount telecom company with little brand recognition. Mint Mobile raised revenue by nearly 50,000% from 2017 to 2020, according to TechCrunch, thanks in no small part to Reynolds' omnipresent ads. Mint sold to T-Mobile for $1.35 billion in 2023. Many actors care as much or more about building their brand as honing their craft. When I tell Reynolds that some skeptics object to the practice of pursuing commercial gain to the possible detriment of artistic achievement, he squints in surprise. 'You think that there are young actors who are like, 'I want to get famous so I can own a brand that sells lots of stuff?'' he asks. I do. 'I'm not saying I'm the exception to the rule, but I love marketing,' he says. 'It's diet storytelling. You can look at a commercial through the same prism you would look at a movie. I get a lot of creative fulfillment out of that. You cannot be as precious about it, because it's just a f-cking commercial. But as long as you acknowledge to the consumer they're being marketed to, then there's an authenticity to it.' That earnestness helps Reynolds stand out in a crowd of celebrity spokespeople. 'When people say, 'What's he really like?' I say exactly what you think,' says McElhenney. 'There's no higher compliment you can give someone in our business than they're exactly who they say they are because so many people create a public persona that is not congruent with who they really are. With Ryan, you don't feel like you're being sold a bill of goods.' __________________________________________ When Reynolds is stopped on the street, he doesn't just take selfies with fans. He asks who the most important person in their life is, and records a video for that person. He can't seem to help himself. Over the course of several weeks, I watch him walk into room after room and pitch jokes, marketing concepts, and movie ideas to anyone and everyone. He exchanges horror stories with a photographer about tantrums at school drop-off and compares notes with me about the techniques we learned in our respective toddler CPR classes. That approachability can create problems in his real life, like when he visits his kids' school and their classmates start asking him about Deadpool. 'I see my daughter's lips tighten,' he admits. 'I don't want to be closed off to the other kids. So I don't really know how to play it.' But it benefits his bottom line. When an ill-advised Peloton ad that featured a husband monitoring his wife's fitness journey went viral in 2019, Reynolds called up the actress and convinced her to appear in one for Aviation Gin. The commercial's star, Monica Ruiz, took a good deal of convincing. But Reynolds can talk anyone into just about anything. Or just about: After the photoshoot to accompany this story, Reynolds repeatedly pitched TIME's editors on a cover featuring the back of his head instead of his face. Ryan Reynolds behind-the-scenes at his TIME cover shoot in April in New York City. 'Oftentimes I create, perhaps too much, an accessibility,' he says. 'I don't like a filtration system. A game of telephone is a terrible way to communicate. They need to hear your voice. They need to feel your emotional investment. They need to feel your gratitude if they've done something great.' That instinct to build connections has served him well in turbulent moments. If you've glanced at social media in the last year, you probably know that Lively filed a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint against Justin Baldoni, her co-star and director of the film It Ends With Us in December 2024: According to a New York Times report, Baldoni hired a crisis PR manager who had previously represented clients like Johnny Depp. Baldoni then sued Lively, Reynolds, their publicist, and the Times for defamation and conspiracy to damage his career with what he said is a false accusation . A judge recently threw out Baldoni's countersuit, and is allowing Lively's suits to proceed. But the situation has taken on a life of its own in the tabloids and on TikTok. Even my celebrity-agnostic relatives asked about it when I mentioned I was interviewing Reynolds. The couple is declining to speak about it. Still, I ask Reynolds whether the tabloids and online discourse have impacted his bottom line. He is, after all, the face of all these companies. That visibility has perks—like being able to deploy Deadpool in commercials—but surely some CEOs get nervous about gossip. '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,' Reynolds says. 'None of us are comprised of our best moments. None of us are defined by our worst moments. We are something in the middle.' A week later, when I push him on whether headlines can affect his brand and business relationships, he's more pointed. 'Accessibility and accountability are a big part of how I do things,' he says. 'The people that I work with know me, so there's never a question of anything like that. If you operate with some degree of core values and integrity, they're going to help you up. If you're an asshole, they're not. And that's pretty simple.' Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds attend 2025 TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 24, 2025 in New York. Paul Bruinooge—Just then, Lively pops into the room wearing leggings and an oversized shirt. She wants to check in with Reynolds about coordinating their schedules for 10 minutes of catch-up time. As they compare their calendars, Lively offers me her favorite snack, sour dried blueberries that she says taste like Warheads and begins to rummage through their drawers trying to locate them. Reynolds leaps up to help her. 'You're chewing into your time,' Lively jokingly scolds her husband. But Reynolds seems rather zen about any tumultuous turns in his public life. He attributes this perspective to an incident early in his life when he got into a brawl with a friend. 'I skipped rehab in my 20s and decided to go to conflict-resolution workshops in Santa Fe,' he says. 'Conflict resolution changed my life in a way that I can't quantify. You don't have to agree with the person. You can empathize, you can validate. You can do all those things and get closer to them without having to just blindly agree or win or lose.' __________________________________________ Reynolds has been on a hot streak lately. MNTN went public in May with a valuation of $1.2 billion. In April, Wrexham AFC made history as the first team to ever achieve three consecutive promotions up the ranks of a brutal British pyramid system. McElhenney pitched Reynolds on sponsoring a soccer team in 2020 during the pandemic. But when Reynolds heard McElhenney's larger vision for a docuseries about a downtrodden town whose fortunes were inextricably tied to the long-suffering club, he immediately knew the story had mass appeal. He suggested they buy the team together. 'Ryan's involvement took this from a very small endeavor to a very large endeavor overnight because he has the ability to connect with millions and millions of people,' says McEllhenney. 'And I don't just mean on social media. I mean spiritually.' McElhenney and Reynolds had never actually met in person, just texted about collaborating some day. 'I made sure to call around and talk to people he worked with, and you heard the same words over and over again. How optimistic he is, how driven and ambitious he is, but not at the cost of his own values. When things get dark, as they often do for everyone, he is a beacon of light I know I can count on. I think other people feel that.' Wrexham's revenue last year reached £26.7 million, a 155% increase on the year prior. Welcome to Wrexham , a show Maximum Effort produces chronicling the team's rise, has won eight Emmys in four seasons. While the project's mission was noble—to boost a struggling mining town—it also served as a Maximum Effort flex: It could make American consumers, historically agnostic toward soccer, care about a down-and-out Welsh football club. Wrexham players now feature in Super Bowl commercials for SToK Cold Brew with Tatum and make cameos in Deadpool movies. Betty Buzz, Lively's beverage company, became a sponsor for both the men's and women's teams, as did Aviation Gin. Wrexham co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney celebrate after Wrexham scores on April 26, 2025 in Wrexham. The team won against Charlton Athletic 3-0, earning a promotion to the Championship league. Martin Rickett—Reynolds claims he still knows very little about soccer, let alone the ins and outs of an IPO. 'I was a lousy student,' he admits. 'I was in remedial 10th grade math when I was in the twelfth grade. It was humiliating.' But it also taught him humility. 'We don't pretend to be football experts. The average four-year-old in Wrexham knows more about football than we ever will. But we can invest in players, invest in character over talent—that's more valuable than a poisonous person in a locker room who scores a lot of goals. And we can tell their story.' They hope to repeat the formula: McElhenney and Reynolds have now teamed up with Eva Longoria to invest in a Mexican soccer team that will become the basis for another series. They went in on an F1 team with Michael B. Jordan, and Reynolds just bought a sailing team with Hugh Jackman. Meanwhile, Wrexham is just one season away from competing at soccer's highest level. 'Thinking back to that first press conference there and saying, our objective is to make it to the Premier League. And you know, everybody tittering and laughing a little, and that's okay. I'm not judging them for that. But then now it's starting to look very, very real,' Reynolds says. 'I am feeling elation but also panic. Growing is great but growing too fast is a frightening proposition.' But Maximum Effort must grow. Next up, the company is producing a documentary about Reynolds' fellow Canadian comedian John Candy that will open the Toronto Film Festival. Reynolds isn't abandoning his acting career anytime soon. During our talk at the TIME100 Summit he teased that he 'thinks' Deadpool will show up in Marvel films again, though he believes that the character works better as a supporting player than a leading man: 'I'm writing a little something right now that is an ensemble.' At 48, his entrepreneurship is, perhaps, a buffer for the inevitable decline in fame. 'All those years living in LA, they will always take your name down from the marquee. That's going to happen like death and taxes,' he says. 'It's not a great feeling. That's why inevitably we are in New York because there's more than one industry here.' And when Reynolds' name is no longer in lights, he has, as McElhenney puts it, alcohol-baron money to fall back on. Reynolds insists his value isn't tied to any single venture. 'It comes from having four kids and a good marriage,' he says. Besides, he's too busy to worry about it. He's got a script to work on and a family meeting to squeeze in before his jaunt around Manhattan with one of Hollywood's most in-demand directors. 'My self-worth isn't farmed out to any one thing that isn't under the roof of my home.'
Daily Mail
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Ryan Reynolds hosts bizarre Beverly Hills, 90210 reunion after he and Blake Lively score legal victory
' career took an odd turn this week when he eschewed his usual A-list pals in favor of putting on a reunion for two Beverly Hills, 90210 stars. The 48-year-old Deadpool & Wolverine star hosted the show's former stars Tori Spelling, 52, and Brian Austin Green, 51, in an comic ad for his Aviation Gin that was timed for Father's Day, which falls on Sunday, June 15. The head-scratching clip comes after Ryan and his wife Blake Lively scored a major court victory when Justin Baldoni's $400 million defamation lawsuit against them was thrown out by a judge, even as the Hollywood couple have been abandoned by Blake's former friend Taylor Swift. Ryan's new video took a particularly strange turn when Brian revealed the name of the cocktail he would be making. 'It's Father's Day, and since my fiancée [Sharna Burgess] recently and very publicly said that she wants me to father a sixth child, I'm going to celebrate... with a Reverse Vasectomy,' he revealed, followed by cringey sound effects including what sounded like the slash of a knife and a man wincing. 'I have no idea how to make one, but I'm sure I can figure it out,' he continued, as Tori stepped on stage behind the bar. 'God, you can't do anything without me,' she said over canned laughter. 'I don't remember our show having a laugh track,' Brian muttered as he looked up quizzically. Then Ryan could be heard off stage in a shouted whisper: 'Just read the lines, it's working!' Tori ran through the recipe, which required a highball glass with a orange twist garnish three ounces of tonic water were poured over. She added a squeeze of lemon, one ounce of cranberry juice and 1.5 ounces of gin, followed by ice to top it off. 'And that's a Reverse Vasectomy,' she said proudly to the camera. From off camera, Ryan shouted, 'Now kiss!' The Green Lantern star then stepped on stage with the former TV stars as Brian bashfully corrected him: 'We're not a couple.' 'What do you mean you're not a couple?' Ryan continued in a comic twist. 'I saw you get married on TV. May 17th, 2000,' he said, referencing when her character Donna Martin tied the know with his character David Silver in the series finale. Ryan leaned into the joke and took it in a creepy new direction as he added, 'I recreated your entire bedroom in my own home.' Brian and Tori both looked horrified, and they scurried off stage while Ryan kept listing details about the obsessive bedroom to himself. Ryan was likely breathing a sigh of relief just days after Justin Baldoni's $400 million defamation suit against him, his wife Blake Lively, her publicist and the New York Times was thrown out by a judge. Baldoni's attorney has since warned that Blake is on a ' false victory tour ' as she celebrates the win. The judge's decision still gives the Jane The Virgin star's legal team the option to refile four of its seven claims by June 23, so Lively and Reynolds aren't completely out of the woods yet. However, Baldoni's defamation and extortion claims were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled. But Swifties familiar with her lore disappointed Baldoni obsessives when they pointed out that Taylor wiped her social media presence in 2017 to promote her album Reputation, which included all the posts that she was alleged to have recently deleted Blake recently found herself in the center of another controversy involving her former friend Taylor Swift. Justin Baldoni defenders gloatingly noted that the pop star had deleted multiple Instagram posts from her account that featured photos with Blake or referencing her in the wake of their reported falling out. But the real reason those posts are no longer on Taylor's Instagram is more complicated. As fans familiar with the singer–songwriter's complicated history have pointed out online, the post's absence doesn't have anything to do with Taylor and Blake's fractured relationship. In August of 2017, the singer–songwriter shocked her followers by deleting her social media headers on multiple platforms and wiping her posts, including on Instagram. The move was a promotional stunt to prepare for the release of her sixth studio album Reputation, which was released in November of that year. Among the posts that Baldoni's most parasocial defenders cited as evidence that Swift allegedly wiped Lively from her feed was a photo of Swift holding an adorable koala while Lively petted its face and neck and stared into its eyes. But it and several other posts featuring Blake had been wiped clean from Taylor's account for years and had nothing to do with her falling out. In fact, she still has some posts featuring photos with Blake on her page.
Globe and Mail
27-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
What business leaders can learn from Earth's most rizz-tastic human, Ryan Reynolds
Try, try again He might be one of the world's most successful actors, but 48-year-old Reynolds has starred in plenty of dogs (see No. 2). Critics absolutely pan you? Shake it off, move on—and joke about it later. You can't spend your way to success Green Lantern is generally regarded as the worst comic-book adaptation ever. But Reynolds learned some valuable lessons from his painful Hal Jordan experience: 'Too much money and too much time wrecks creativity,' he has said. 'And constraint is the greatest creative tool you can possibly have.' No amount of cash can save a poorly conceived idea. Never settle Reynolds started developing Deadpool in 2004. Due largely to studio shenanigans, he was forced to debut the character in the 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine but hated the portrayal that was foisted on him. So did fans. He persevered until he won absolute creative freedom, and the first foul-mouthed, critically acclaimed Deadpool film, released in 2016, grossed US$782 million worldwide. Its two sequels grossed even more, and the third installment is the highest-grossing R-rated film ever. Marketing is everything Reynolds is no silent partner. He often becomes the quirky, hilarious spokesman for many of his investments, including Mint Mobile. Five years after he accrued a 25% stake, T-Mobile bought it for US$1.4 billion. He bought a majority stake in Aviation Gin in 2016; Diageo acquired the brand four years later for US$610 million, based largely on his genius as creative director. Since he took over Wrexham AFC in 2020—and created a hit docuseries about his and Rob McElhenney's adventures in Wales—tourism earnings in the town have tripled. Oh, and the team just won a third straight promotion. Next up: reversing the fortunes of Alpine, currently ranked No. 9 in F1. Give back The prolific philanthropist most notably uses his star power to raise money for Toronto's SickKids Hospital. And as SickKids Foundation CEO Jennifer Bernard told us, for Reynolds, it really is all about the kids. 'He came for a visit on my second day... No security, regular street clothes. Drove up, went through a side door. And we always send our stars a package on the kids. He knew every kid's name. He knew their story, he knew their parents... Ryan, honestly, is a national treasure.' Your time is valuable. Have the Top Business Headlines newsletter conveniently delivered to your inbox in the morning or evening. Sign up today.
News18
02-05-2025
- Business
- News18
Why Ryan Reynolds Is Being Compared To Steve Jobs In Viral Post
Last Updated: In 2018, Ryan Reynolds became a major investor in Aviation Gin, taking on not just a face for the brand but also the role of creative director. Ryan Reynolds, widely recognised for his role as Marvel's Deadpool, is quietly making a name for himself beyond acting. A viral thread on X by entrepreneur Ken Berenger has captured significant attention, not for Reynolds' acting, but for his business acumen. The post begins with, ' Ryan Reynolds is the new Steve Jobs." The thread highlights how Ryan Reynolds, once primarily known as a Hollywood star, has transformed into one of the most creative and successful entrepreneurs today. It begins with a quick look back at 2016, when Deadpool had just been released and went on to earn $780 million at the box office. Ryan Reynolds Is the new Steve 2020, Ryan Reynolds bought a struggling 5th-tier Welsh football club for $2.5M. Everyone called him a Hollywood dreamer. But what he did next changed sports & business forever… Here's the story: 🧵 — Ken Berenger (@KenBerenger) April 30, 2025 'Behind the scenes, he was plotting a masterplan to become a business mogul," Ken added. By 2016, Ryan Reynolds was just another Hollywood gotten Deadpool produced ($780M box office), but he was still just an actor. Behind the scenes, he was plotting a masterplan to become a business mogul. — Ken Berenger (@KenBerenger) April 30, 2025 Unlike many celebrities who settle for simple endorsements, Reynolds wanted ownership. In 2018, he bought into Aviation Gin, not just as a face for the brand but as creative director. He brought his unique style and humour into every part of the brand's identity. Most celebrities settle for endorsement Reynolds. In 2018, he bought a stake in Aviation Gin, a small craft spirits company. He didn't just lend his face—he became owner and creative director, infusing the brand with his signature wit. — Ken Berenger (@KenBerenger) April 30, 2025 One standout moment came when Peloton's ad faced backlash. Reynolds responded fast. 'Within 36 hours, Reynolds produced a response ad featuring the same actress drowning her sorrows in Aviation Gin. The ad went viral. Free publicity worth millions. Pure genius," the entrepreneur shared. By 2020, Reynolds' strategy paid off. Aviation Gin was sold to Diageo for a reported $610 million. But he wasn't done. A year before that, he had already invested in Mint Mobile, a budget-friendly telecom company. He helped the brand grow rapidly and in 2023, Mint Mobile was sold to T-Mobile for a massive $1.35 billion. By 2020, Reynolds had proven his business acumen. Aviation Gin sold to Diageo for $610 also bought Mint Mobile in 2019, disrupting telecom with his personal, funny marketing approach. But his next move shocked everyone… — Ken Berenger (@KenBerenger) April 30, 2025 Another surprising part of the thread is about Wrexham AFC. In 2020, Reynolds teamed up with actor Rob McElhenney to buy the struggling fifth-tier Welsh football club for $2.5 million. 'Why would Hollywood stars buy a team in a small Welsh industrial town? Everyone thought they were crazy," Ken shared. But the goal was never just about football. They invested in Wrexham, a club founded in 1864 and deeply tied to its town's identity. Reynolds teamed up with actor Rob McElhenney to buy Wrexham AFC, a struggling Welsh football club in the 5th would Hollywood stars buy a team in a small Welsh industrial town? Everyone thought they were crazy. But Reynolds and McElhenney weren't buying just a team: — Ken Berenger (@KenBerenger) April 30, 2025 'They weren't buying just a team: they were buying a community's heart," the thread mentioned. Instead of 'staying distant owners, they dove in headfirst." The duo attended games, interacted with fans and showed real support. They also launched the documentary Welcome to Wrexham, which gave the team and town global attention. They were buying a community's AFC, founded in 1864, is the 3rd oldest professional football club in the world. The town lives and breathes its team. Instead of staying distant owners, they dove in headfirst. — Ken Berenger (@KenBerenger) April 30, 2025 'This wasn't just business. It was relationship-building," Ken noted. They created the "Welcome to Wrexham" documentary series, bringing global attention to this small Welsh invested millions in the team's infrastructure, players, and community programs. This wasn't just business. It was relationship-building. — Ken Berenger (@KenBerenger) April 30, 2025 The results speak for themselves. In 2023, Wrexham won the National League title and was promoted to League 2 after 15 years. Local businesses boomed. The thread mentioned, 'Visitor spending in Wrexham surged—up 51% in 2022 and another 20% in 2023. The club's value was estimated to have multiplied several times over." The results? April 2023, Wrexham won the National League title, earning promotion to League 2. The club returned to the English Football League for the first time in 15 years. — Ken Berenger (@KenBerenger) April 30, 2025 The town erupted in documentary became a hit. Merchandise sales exploded worldwide. Visitor spending in Wrexham surged—up 51% in 2022 and another 20% in 2023. The economic impact on the small town has been enormous. — Ken Berenger (@KenBerenger) April 30, 2025 As Ken puts it, Reynolds 'brings creativity, authenticity, and humour to everything he touches." From acting to advertising, football to telecom, Reynolds 'rewrote the celebrity business playbook" 'He showed that building real connections with communities creates more value than traditional corporate approaches," Ken concluded. As for his next acting ventures, Reynolds will next be seen in Animal Friends, an upcoming action-comedy directed by Peter Atencio. Apart from this, he will also star in the Apple Studios action-adventure film Mayday, directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. First Published:
