Social Media Reacts To Ryan Reynolds’ Joke About Justin Baldoni & Blake Lively Scandal

During a segment that saw Tina Fey and Amy Poehler getting questions from the celebrity-filled audience, Ryan Reynolds — Lively’s husband — stood up to ask one.

Fey and Poehler asked Reynolds how he was doing, before he answered, “Great,” before pausing a beat and adding, “Why? What have you heard?”

The ladies immediately replied in unison with an emphatic, “no, nothing,” while flashing Reynolds a thumbs up.

Lively was sitting next to Reynolds during the joke where she started out smiling. However, she quickly joined in on the joke with a concerned look on her face when Reynolds answered.

She then smiled as the Deadpool star continued with his unrelated question.

Many assumed the joke was a clear reference to the drama that has unfolded between the couple and Baldoni, who starred in and directed It Ends With Us, as well as Wayfarer Studios in the months since the film premiered.

The audience laughed at the joke in the moment, but some social media users called out the decision to make light of the situation that has been making headlines for months.

While many were criticizing their appearance, others were more focused on those around the embattled couple, including Kevin Costner’s reaction to seeing the pair out in public, and hearing their joke, as well as Anya Taylor Joy appearing to roll her eyes.

This is the first public appearance Lively has been spotted at since the legal feud began.

The last time Lively stepped on a red carpet came on December 11, 2024 at the 2024 Beauty Inc Awards in New York City.

On December 31, Baldoni filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times for its coverage of Lively’s legal complaint, in which she accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, as well as claiming he and others orchestrated a smear campaign against her. Lively later filed a federal lawsuit of her own, in which she reiterated the claims she alleged in the complaint.

In his lawsuit, Baldoni and the other plaintiffs — including publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel — accuse the publication of libel, invasion of privacy, promissory fraud and breach of implied-in-fact contract, claiming they “deliberately” misled readers. The suit also accuses the paper of relying on Lively’s “unverified and self-serving narrative,” which they say is full of “blatant falsehoods and egregious misrepresentations.”

In a statement to TMZ, a New York Times spokesperson said, “Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article. To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed to a single error. We published their full statement in response to the allegations in the article as well. We plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”

In a statement to The New York Post, Lively’s attorneys addressed Baldoni’s lawsuit.

“Nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the claims advanced in Ms. Lively’s California Civil Rights Department Complaint, nor her federal complaint, filed earlier today,” the statement read. “This lawsuit is based on the obviously false premise that Ms. Lively’s administrative complaint against Wayfarer and others was a ruse based on a choice ‘not to file a lawsuit against Baldoni, Wayfarer,’ and that ‘litigation was never her ultimate goal.'”

“As demonstrated by the federal complaint filed by Ms. Lively earlier today, that frame of reference for the Wayfarer lawsuit is false,” they added. “While we will not litigate this matter in the press, we do encourage people to read Ms. Lively’s complaint in its entirety. We look forward to addressing each and every one of Wayfarer’s allegations in court.”

The battle reached a new level on January 16 when Baldoni filed a massive defamation lawsuit against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and her publicist, Leslie Sloane. In it, the plaintiffs “set the record straight,” following allegations from Lively accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and his team of orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her in the media.

In the filing, Baldoni’s team argues any backlash Lively received in the lead-up to the release of It Ends with Us were her own doing — saying, “The suggestion that Wayfarer caused the online backlash against her is absurd given the evidence of her own insensitivity.” They also accuse Lively of having Baldoni — who directed the movie — iced out of his own film, saying she took over both scripts and editing duties.

The suit is seeking no less than $400 million in damages.

Baldoni has continued to deny allegations brought about by Lively, while Lively, Reynolds and Sloane have denied the accusations made in litigation by Baldoni.

In January, Lively and Reynolds filed a letter asking the court to issue a gag order from Baldoni’s legal team, which is led by Freedman, whom the couple claims has been engaging in “improper conduct,” per TMZ.

Freedman hit back, telling TMZ that Baldoni won’t be “bullied” by Lively and Reynolds.

Baldoni’s team even released a website filled with private communications such as text messages that were included in court filings detailing his interactions with the Hollywood power couple over the making of It Ends With Us.