Copyright Us Weekly
Ryan Phillippe came out on top in the legal battle he was dragged into over a woman who was allegedly injured at a L.A. restaurant he invested in, Us Weekly can exclusively report. On Friday, October 17, Jody Sanders filed court docs revealing she was dropping all claims against Phillippe, his friend and business partner, Jeffrey Best, and the restaurant The Hideaway. (Phillippe is a minority investor, with several others, and is not an owner of the Mexican steak house.) Sanders’ lawyer, Kevin Anderson, told the court that all claims against all parties were being dropped. As Us previously reported, Sanders filed her lawsuit on May 28 in the Superior Court of Los Angeles. In the suit, Sanders accused the defendants of general negligence and demanded unspecified damages. In the suit, Sanders claimed she was at The Hideaway on April 6, 2024, at 2:15 p.m. for lunch. She said she was sitting “at a bar area when the accident happened.” Her lawyer claimed Sanders’ “hair was burned by an unattended wax candle burning on the bar surface.” Phillippe, 51, and the other defendants had yet to respond to the case in court before Sanders dropped the suit. In July 2022, The Hollywood Reporter wrote about The Hideaway’s launch. The article spoke to another investor, actor Evan Ross, about the restaurant. Ross, 37, said, “My partners and I envisioned a space that could be a home for all our old friends to gather for decades to come alongside new friends we have yet to meet. We have created a vibrant restaurant and bar that will welcome guests from lunch until late into the night.” Phillippe told the outlet, “Our team has spent years developing this concept and fine-tuning every detail.” As Us previously reported, Phillippe recently shut down rumors about him and his ex-wife, Reese Witherspoon. Phillippe responded to a social media clip of him from the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer, posted by Prime Video on July 19. The post claimed, “Reese Witherspoon auditioned for I Know What You Did Last Summer but changed her mind and withdrew. Instead, she recommended her then-boyfriend, Ryan Phillippe for the role of Barry.” “Not sure that story is truuuuuue, but it’s very cute,” Phillippe wrote in the comment section. The movie fact most likely came from a 2017 interview with the film’s director, Jim Gillespie, where he claimed they offered Witherspoon the role of Julie James but she backed out. The role eventually went to Jennifer Love Hewitt. Phillippe and Witherspoon were married from 1996 to 2006. The exes share two children: a daughter, Ava Phillippe, and a son, Deacon Phillippe. Phillippe and Witherspoon met at her 21st birthday in 1997. They were engaged in December 1998 and walked down the aisle in mid-1999. They filmed Cruel Intentions together the same year they got married. The actor recently starred on Amazon Prime’s show Motorheads.
