Ryan Reynolds backs the Blue Jays in his ugly Christmas sweater
This year’s SickKids fundraising commercial settles a score
Many Canadian sports fans are still feeling the sting of the Blue Jays’ soul-crushing game seven loss to the Dodgers. Now, we can count Ryan Reynolds among our ranks. The actor-slash-ad-maker just released his latest ugly-Christmas-sweater fundraising video for SickKids—an annual tradition that has raised over $3 million for the hospital. This year, he’s sharing top billing with a Canadian-American slugger.
Related: A surprisingly serious conversation with Ryan Reynolds on his new documentary, John Candy: I Like Me
“Ever since we started making our annual video to raise money for SickKids Hospital in Toronto a few years ago, I’ve heard from so many generous Canadians offering to co-star that we actually have a wait list,” says Reynolds in the ad. “And this year, well, it just happens to be the pride of Ontario and Los Angeles…Mr. Freddie Freeman.”
Remember Freeman, the dude who hit the knock-off homer in the 18th inning of game three? That secured a crucial and crushing victory for the Dodgers, who went on to—well, we all know what happened. Freeman is a dual citizen by way of his Peterborough-born mother and Windsor-born father. The Canadian couple moved to Fountain Valley, California, for work, and that’s where little Freddie came into the world in 1989—then waited 36 years to break the hearts of Jays fans.
Related: Dodgers fans have donated $30,000 to SickKids
Now, sweet revenge is being delivered by a band of seriously pissed off sick children. At least that’s the conceit of Reynolds’s video, where Freeman gets the cold shoulder when he shows up to visit the hospital. (Watch the whole thing here.) “Rub some dirt on it, Freddie Freeman!” Reynolds captioned a TikTok post sharing the video that has already been viewed by more people than you can fit in Dodger Stadium.
As usual, the kids in the ad are actual SickKids patients turning Oscar-worthy performances. Freeman is also a natural in the role of treasonous snake. No big surprise there. Let’s go, Blue Jays!
Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”
