NBC
During the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary special on Sunday night, Ryan Reynolds made a joke at the expense of Justin Baldoni. Baldoni, the director of the Blake Lively movie It Ends With Us, is currently suing Reynolds and Lively.
During a skit led by SNL icons Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, celebrities in the crowd were allowed to ask questions, leading to gags involving Quinta Brunson, Tim Meadows, Nate Bargatze, Jon Hamm, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Adam Driver, Keith Richards, Seth Meyers, and Ryan Reynolds, who was seated with his wife Blake Lively.
When Reynolds stood up to ask his question, Tina Fey asked him “Ryan Reynolds, how’s it going?” to when he deadpanned “Great… why what have you heard?” — an obvious reference to his ongoing legal trouble with Baldoni. While Lively was sure in on the gag, she did a decent job of selling her surprise at the joke, too.
Ryan Reynolds with Blake Lively on #SNL50 pic.twitter.com/JM6dUwPP0a
— clubheartbreak (@clubheartbreak) February 17, 2025
In a pair of opposing lawsuits, Lively accused Justin Baldoni of harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign, with Baldoni then countersuing for $400 million over allegations of defamation and extortion.
According to Lively’s lawsuit, Baldoni behaved inappropriately during the filming of It Ends With Us, which he both starred and directed in. Lively has accused Baldoni of engaging in unwanted physical advances and unprofessional conduct, such as comments about her weight.
It Ends with Us, based on the best-selling 2016 romantic novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover, grossed $351 million at the global box office following its release in movie theaters in August 2024. Despite the success of the film, given the ongoing legal trouble between Lively and Baldoni, a sequel is extremely unlikely.