Justin Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman has spoken out against Ryan Reynolds’ joke at SNL’s 50th anniversary celebrations, saying that he was “surprised” that the Deadpool would be making jokes given the nature of the complaint.
During the celebrations, hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler pretended to spot Ryan in the crowd, where he was sat with his wife, Blake Lively. Tina asked Ryan how it was going, to which he replied: “Great! Why, what have you heard?” while Blake, clearly in on the joke, appeared to look confused.
Speaking about the sketch on the podcast Hot Mics with Billy Bush, Bryan said: “I’m unaware of anybody, frankly, whose wife has been sexually harassed and has made jokes about that type of situation. I can’t think of anyone who’s done anything like that. It surprised me.” Page Six also reported that a source from Justin’s team said that he was taking the lawsuit seriously and wouldn’t make a public “mockery” out of it.
The legal troubles between Justin, Blake and Ryan stemmed from the troubled production of It Ends with Us, which led to Blake suing Justin for sexual harrasment and orchestrating a smear campaign to damage her reputation. In response, Justin launched a counter lawsuit for £310million over reputational damages, and published a website containing correspondence between himself and Blake throughout the course of the production.
© Getty ImagesTheir co-star, Brandon Sklenar, opened up about the situation to Gayle King during an appearance on CBS Mornings, explaining: “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
“That movie meant so much to me, and I have someone very very close to me in my life who has gone through what Lily’s going through for a long time. 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, this person in my life. It was one of the reasons that me doing that film gave her the strength to change her life.”
Blake vs Justin: feud timeline
© Getty Images2024
9th August – It Ends With Us is released
6th August – Justin walks the red carpet away from the rest of his costars during the movie premiere
13th August –Justin hires crisis PR Melissa Nathan who represented Johnny Depp during his defamation trial
20th December – Blake files a huge lawsuit against Justin, accusing him of “unprofessional” behaviour on set
21st December – Justin is dropped by his talent agency
22nd December – The New York Times leaks private messages, attesting to a PR smear campaign against Blake
31st December – Justin files a lawsuit against The New York Times
31st December – Blake files a lawsuit against Justin
2025
16th January – Justin countersues Blake for $400 million
21st January – Justin’s team releases footage from the It Ends With Us set, contradicting Blake’s argument
27th January – A trial date is set for March 2026
27th January – Audio of Justin is leaked where he allegedly apologises to Blake during filming
1st February –Justin’s team launches a website with two legal documents about the dispute
5th February – Blake is sued by crisis PR firm for $7 million
Alluding to the lawsuit situation, he added: “It means a lot to me. “It’s unfortunate that things get taken away from what the ethos of that thing is and it gets convoluted, and I just want to remind people [of that].”
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