Brandon Sklenar Speaks Out After Pin Sparks Justin Baldoni Support Speculation Amid Blake Lively Battle

It Ends with Us star Brandon Sklenar got the internet talking earlier this month after he stepped out to the Vanity Fairy Oscar Party wearing an Anabela Chan floral pin — one director/costar Justin Baldoni wore to the premiere of their film back in August 2024.

And after Sklenar shared a photo to Instagram highlighting the pin in question, his post was immediately filled with questions and speculation, as fans wondered whether the actor was trying to say something by sporting the same brooch.

“Isn’t this the same broach as JB at premier? Is this a stand in solidarity?” asked one follower, while another called it a “pretend to stand in solidarity” pin. As others demanded the actor “speak up and stand with truth,” amid Bladoni’s legal battle with Blake Lively, others wrote, “the audacity to STEAL the Floral Pin idea from the same man you tried to so quickly take down.. do you not have any self respect?”

Now, he’s revealing whether there was any special meaning behind the accessory.

“Honestly, no. No. No. I wish I could say there was,” Sklenar told PEOPLE while promoting his new movie, Drop, at SXSW over the weekend.

“That was a total happenstance,” he continued. “I woke up in the morning and saw an article and I was like, ‘Oh, damn.’ I literally had no idea. I had an idea I wanted to wear like a floral brooch of some kind and that was the color that I liked the best. And, lo and behold, someone also wore that prior to me wearing it.”

At the party he wore the pin to, he was asked by The Hollywood Reporter about supporting Lively amid the legal back and forth.

“It’s a tough situation,” he told the outlet. “I just hope everyone remembers what the movie is about and why we made it in the first place. It’s about love. It’s about supporting women in general and helping people through tough times.”

He offered up a similar response when asked by Gayle King on CBS Mornings whether he was Team Blake or Team Justin during an interview in February.

“I just want people to remember why we made the movie in the first place and what it stands for, and just keeping the focus on that,” he said at the time.

Sklenar went on to share, “I have someone very close to me who’s gone through what [Lively’s character Lily is] going through for a long time and I’ve been on the front lines helping her navigate that space, so that movie meant a lot to me and it means a lot to her.”

“It was one of the reasons that me doing that movie gave her the strength to change her life,” he continued. “It’s unfortunate that things get taken away from what the ethos of that thing is and it gets convoluted.”

Lively filed a sexual harassment complaint against Baldoni in December 2024, accusing him of misconduct during production. She also alleged that Baldoni and his associates engaged in a retaliatory smear campaign designed to “destroy” her reputation. Baldoni has denied the allegations.

Baldoni then fired back with a lawsuit of his own against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, as well their publicist Leslie Sloane, Sloane’s PR firm and the New York Times, alleging civil extortion and defamation. The suit is seeking no less than $400 million in damages. The case is currently scheduled to go to trial in March 2026.