Ryan Reynolds’ appearance on “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” with Blake Lively caused a stir when he joked about the ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni. The joke did not go unnoticed by Baldoni’s legal team. During “SNL50,” which aired February 16, Reynolds was planted in the crowd next to Lively as part of a Q&A sketch with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. After he raised his hand, Fey chose the “Deadpool” actor to ask a question. “Ryan Reynolds, how’s it going?” she asked. “Great … Why, what have you heard?” he sarcastically responded, an obvious nod to the well-publicized legal issues with Baldoni. People were surprised to see Reynolds and (by proxy) his wife joke about the situation; after all, Lively already has a long list of scandals she likely wishes we’d forget. “Interesting damage control,” one viewer commented on X, formerly Twitter.
A month after the sketch aired, Reynolds filed to have Baldoni’s lawsuit against him dismissed. Reynolds’ motion specifically mentioned the character Nicepool in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which was used to mock Baldoni. “While Mr. Baldoni ‘may not appreciate being called’ a predator, those hurt feelings do not give rise to legal claims,” the court documents stated.
Bryan Freedman, a lawyer for Baldoni, wasted no time in responding to that motion with a strongly worded statement. “Mr. Reynolds now attempts to reduce plainly cognizable claims to ‘hurt feelings,’ sending a clear message that bullying is acceptable,” Freedman said, per Variety. He then specifically referenced the “SNL50” joke. “Mr. Reynolds can appear on as many sketch shows as he wants and feebly try to make light of his current situation, but we will not stop until he is held accountable for his actions,” the lawyer added. Previously, there had been debate over whether Reynolds wrote the joke himself.
Blake Lively appeared genuinely shocked by the joke
Fans were surprised at Ryan Reynolds’ approach to the Justin Baldoni legal drama, as it was not clear if Blake Lively was in on the “SNL50” joke. The “Gossip Girl” alum had a genuine look of shock on her face when her husband snidely threw out the line during the sketch. There was talk that Reynolds improvised the line, and that was why Lively looked mortified.
A couple of days after “SNL50” aired, Wally Feresten — who works as a cue card staffer on the show — claimed that Reynolds had indeed crafted the joke. “He had a different line in rehearsal and he pitched that to replace it. So that was his idea to do it,” Feresten said while appearing on the “Fifi, Fev & Nick” radio show on February 18. The origin of the joke was further debated when a “Saturday Night Live” spokesperson denied Feresten’s claim after being asked about it by People. A source close to “The Adam Project” actor took a similar stance when speaking to the outlet. “The opening joke was pitched by SNL and never changed,” they told People on February 20.
Meanwhile, Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman was unconcerned with whoever wrote the joke and believed Reynolds’ behavior helped back up his client’s claims of innocence. “I’m unaware of anybody, frankly, whose wife has been sexually harassed and has made jokes about that type of situation,” Freedman said when he appeared on “Hot Mics with Billy Bush” on February 17.
