Justin Baldoni’s legal team may use Ryan Reynolds’ “SNL 50” joke about their respective lawsuits in the director’s defense, an insider tells Page Six.
Reynolds, 48, and wife Blake Lively, 37, stepped out on Sunday for their first red carpet appearance amid the “It Ends With Us” legal drama — even poking fun at the situation during a brief cameo.
When asked how he was doing during the live show, the “Deadpool” star replied, “Great! Why, what have you heard?”
While the studio audience laughed, many viewers felt that claims of sexual harassment, extortion and defamation weren’t things to make light of — which Baldoni’s legal advisers seemingly agree with.
“It’s very plausible that Justin’s legal team will use this public outing to defend him,” the insider tells Page Six.
“Justin is taking this lawsuit in all seriousness and isn’t making a public mockery out of it,” they add.
While it’s unclear how the actor’s attorneys plan to incorporate the “SNL” appearance into their case, both parties were previously warned against saying or doing anything in the press that could influence a potential jury.
Our source says it wasn’t just Baldoni’s supporters who felt conflicted about Reynold’s flippant comment.
“People in Hollywood think Blake and Ryan attending the ‘SNL’ 50th anniversary show was not a good look,” our insider shares.
“They think they should have sat this one out.”
Despite the mixed opinions, a second source tells us that Reynolds and Lively “have no regrets about making an appearance at the show” and “were two of the last people to leave Studio 8H.”
“Blake was initially hesitant to attend the ‘SNL’ 50th anniversary show but ultimately she’s glad she attended and had a really nice time,” the second insider shares.
“They’re glad they showed up because they have nothing to hide and no reason not to.”
In December 2024, Lively filed a bombshell complaint against the “Jane the Virgin” alum, alleging that he sexually harassed her on the set of their 2024 film adapted from the Colleen Hoover novel of the same name.
She further accused him of trying to “destroy” her reputation with a calculated smear campaign, which was detailed in a New York Times article titled, “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.”
Less than two weeks later, she filed a formal lawsuit against Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy.
However, Baldoni denied all her accusations and filed his own $400 million defamation and extortion lawsuit against Reynolds, Lively and their PR team.
He claimed the “A Simple Favor” star extorted him and took over their film. He’s also suing her on claims of invasion of privacy, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional interference with contractual relations and more.
The “Five Feet Apart” director also filed a $250 million libel lawsuit against the New York Times, claiming they “cherry-picked and altered communications stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced to mislead.”
Lively and Baldoni have just over a year to prepare their cases before going to trial in March 2026.
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