It’s important to note that during Ryan Reynolds‘ appearance on SNL 50, he put forth his utmost effort. However, the decision to jest about Blake Lively’s legal dispute with Justin Baldoni was not something he initiated himself.
On February 16th, the star of Deadpool made an appearance during Saturday Night Live’s anniversary special, unexpectedly rising from his seat during a Q&A session led by alums Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. When asked about his well-being, Reynolds responded casually, “I’m doing great,” followed by a brief pause before humorously adding, “Why? What have you heard?
Whispers about Reynolds ad-libbing the line started after fans spotted Lively’s instant surprise upon his delivery. The suspicions grew stronger when it was disclosed by longtime Saturday Night Live cue cards staffer Wally Feresten that Reynolds had a different line during rehearsals.
In my line of work as a lifestyle expert, I always prefer to tread the path of the familiar rather than the contentious, unless it’s something we’ve mutually agreed upon. That’s the approach I shared during my recent chat on Fifi, Fev & Nick, an Australian radio show. Yes, that was his idea, his line of thinking.
As a lifestyle connoisseur, I can tell you from a reliable insider’s perspective that the initial witty remark attributed to Reynolds during his hosting gig on Saturday Night Live (SNL) wasn’t something he came up with on his own. In fact, it was the SNL team who crafted and stuck with this joke right from the start.
As your trusted lifestyle advisor, let me share an interesting tidbit from behind the scenes. In a recent event, Ryan Reynolds playfully pondered whether the props used in the classic comedy “Coneheads” were actually edible – but here’s the twist: this joke was reworked during rehearsals to add a touch of humor and spontaneity to the performance.
Additionally, a representative for Saturday Night Live disputed Feresten’s statement to People magazine, explaining that he is not one of the writers who contributes to the program’s creative development.
Nonetheless, the point raised did not seem agreeable to a lawyer acting for Baldoni, as he is currently countersuing both Lively and her spouse following her filing of a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment during the filming of their movie “It Ends With Us”.
In a recent conversation on Hot Mics with Billy Bush, Bryan Freedman stated, “To be honest, I don’t know anyone whose spouse has experienced sexual harassment and joked about such situations. It’s hard for me to imagine someone behaving in that manner, so it took me by surprise.
Freedman noted that, despite Baldoni disputing Lively’s claims, he has been vacationing in Hawaii to find a sense of tranquility amidst the ongoing court case.
For a complete breakdown of Lively’s and Baldoni’s cases, keep reading.
In a recent interview on Hot Mics with Billy Bush, Bryan Freedman expressed that he doesn’t know anyone whose spouse has experienced sexual harassment and joked about such situations. He found it surprising because he can’t recall anyone acting in such a manner.
Freedman stated that, contrary to Lively’s accusations which Baldoni has rejected, he has been vacationing in Hawaii to find a sense of tranquility amidst the ongoing court case.
For a complete breakdown of Lively’s and Baldoni’s cases, keep reading.
Four months following the theater release of the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s book “It Ends With Us,” Blake Lively filed a complaint with California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD) against her costar Justin Baldoni and his associates on December 20, as reported by The New York Times.
In the complaint obtained by TopMob News, Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, its CEO Jamey Heath, cofounder Steve Sarowitz, Baldoni’s publicist Jennifer Abel, RWA Communications, crisis communications specialist Melissa Nathan, The Agency Group PR LLC (TAG), contractor Jed Wallace, and Street Relations Inc. were named as defendants.
Lively claimed in her complaint that Baldoni and his Wayfarer associates retaliated against her through a complex press and digital strategy after she expressed concerns about alleged misconduct on set. She stated that she and other cast and crew members “encountered intrusive, unwanted, unprofessional, and sexually inappropriate behavior” from Baldoni and Heath.
The actress further asserted that this alleged campaign against her caused significant harm to both her personal and professional life. The accusations detailed in the complaint include sexual harassment, retaliation, failure to address harassment, aiding and abetting harassment and retaliation, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, false light invasion of privacy, and interference with prospective economic advantage.
The following day, The New York Times released an article detailing a suspected counterattack smear operation that Baldoni and his team were accused of conducting against Lively. This was based on her CRD complaint, which the newspaper referenced in its coverage. The article featured messages from Baldoni, Abel (his publicist), and Nathan (crisis communications specialist) that were part of Lively’s complaint. The court documents related to this case could also be found on The New York Times‘ website for readers to review. In response, Lively told the outlet, “I hope my legal action sheds light on these underhanded retaliatory tactics used to harm those who speak out about misconduct and safeguards others who might face similar targeting.
After the news of Lively’s complaint surfaced, I, as a lifestyle expert, would put it this way: Upon hearing Lively’s allegations, Bryan Freedman – attorney for Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and their representatives – firmly dismissed these accusations. In a statement published on The New York Times website, he expressed his disappointment that Lively and her representatives would make such serious, unfounded claims against Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and their representatives. He viewed this as a desperate attempt to salvage Lively’s tarnished reputation stemming from comments and actions during the film campaign, which were open to public scrutiny and interpretation. Freedman considered these claims false, outrageous, deliberately sensational, and intended to harm Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios publicly by rehashing old media narratives.
Furthermore, Freedman defended Wayfarer’s decision to hire a crisis manager, explaining that this was done before the marketing campaign for the movie. Lastly, he clarified that Wayfarer’s representatives only responded to incoming media inquiries to ensure balanced and accurate reporting and monitored social activity. However, he pointed out that the correspondence cherry-picked by some does not show any proactive measures taken with media or otherwise; it merely illustrates internal planning and private communication between public relations professionals, which is standard practice.
After an article in The New York Times published on December 21st, the talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME) ended its association with Baldoni. Ari Emanuel, CEO of the agency’s parent company Endeavor, confirmed this to the outlet. However, it is important to note that WME denies any involvement from Ryan Reynolds, who is also represented by the agency along with his wife Blake Lively, in the decision to part ways with Baldoni. This allegation was made by Baldoni in a lawsuit filed against The New York Times (more on this below). In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on January 1st, WME clarified that there was no pressure from Reynolds or Lively at any time for the agency to drop Baldoni as a client. Furthermore, they stated that Baldoni’s former representative was not present at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere where this alleged incident occurred.
After Blake Lively’s CRD filing and a New York Times article, several well-known personalities expressed their support for her accusations against Baldoni. For instance, the author of ‘It Ends With Us’, Colleen Hoover, expressed her support via Instagram Stories, linking to The New York Times on December 21st. Her message read, “Blake Lively, you have always been honest, kind, supportive and patient since we met… Never change. Never wilt.”
Similarly, Jenny Slate, who played the sister of Baldoni’s character Ryle, publicly declared her support for Lively in a statement to Today on December 23rd. She said, “As Blake Lively’s castmate and friend, I voice my support as she takes action against those reported to have planned and carried out an attack on her reputation.” Slate added, “What has been revealed about the attack on Blake is terribly dark, disturbing, and wholly threatening. I commend my friend, I admire her bravery, and I stand by her side.”
Brandon Sklenar, a love interest for Lively’s character Lily Bloom, shared a screenshot of the complaint published on The New York Times’ website and linked to the outlet, writing, “For the love of God read this.”
Lastly, Lively’s Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants costars America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel, and Amber Tamblyn wrote they stand with her in solidarity.
Liz Plank recently shared that she is stepping down from her role as co-host on The Man Enough Podcast, a show she hosted with Baldoni and Heath. She broke the news via Instagram, expressing gratitude for the trust and support of listeners over the past four years, and acknowledging the deep bond that was formed within the community. However, Plank did not provide a reason for her departure, but it occurred shortly after Lively’s complaint against Baldoni and his associates at Wayfarer. In her message, she reaffirmed her commitment to the shared values they built during her time on the podcast and emphasized the importance of continuing to fight for justice and hold accountable those who stand in its way. She also hinted that she would share more about the situation as she processes it further.
Stephanie Jones, Baldoni’s former publicist, and her agency, Jonesworks LLC, have initiated a lawsuit against me, Baldoni, my company Wayfarer, Abel (my current publicist), and Nathan (a crisis communications specialist) in New York on December 24th.
The legal document states that Abel and Nathan covertly colluded for months to publicly and privately discredit Jones and Jonesworks, breach multiple contracts, encourage contractual violations, and poach clients and business opportunities. While I wasn’t aware of it at the time, they secretly collaborated with me and Wayfarer to launch a malicious media smear campaign against one of my film co-stars. They then leveraged this manufactured crisis as an opportunity to widen the gap between Jones and me, and to publicly accuse her of orchestrating the smear campaign—when she had no role in it whatsoever.
Abel’s LinkedIn profile indicates that she was with Jonesworks until last summer. The lawsuit claims that Abel and Nathan are now falsely implicating Jones as their own misconduct is exposed, defaming her, and tarnishing her reputation within the industry.
Baldoni and Wayfarer, who are no longer associated with Jonesworks, allegedly breached their contractual obligations with Jonesworks and rejected her attempts to resolve this dispute privately through arbitration.
I’ve reached out to the defendants for their comment on these allegations.
Lawyers for Lively claimed to Variety on December 23rd that they acquired the texts mentioned in The New York Times article through a subpoena issued to Jonesworks. Freedman, who represents Nathan, Abel, Baldoni, and their Wayfarer associates, further stated to the outlet that none of his clients were subpoenaed regarding this matter, and he plans to sue Jones for disclosing messages from Abel’s phone to Lively’s legal team.
On December 31st, Baldoni, Wayfarer, Heath, Sarowitz, Nathan, TAG, Abel, RWA Communications, Wallace, and Street Relations filed a lawsuit against The New York Times. In this lawsuit, The New York Times is accused of libel, false light invasion of privacy, promissory fraud, and breach of implied-in-fact contract regarding an article about a supposed retaliatory smear campaign the plaintiffs allegedly conducted against Lively after she expressed concerns about alleged misconduct on set.
The plaintiffs claim that the report was false and based on Lively’s CRD complaint, they deny the accusations and assert that messages cited in the article and complaint were taken out of context. They further allege that The New York Times “relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative,” and that it disregarded evidence contradicting her claims and exposing her true motives.
The plaintiffs also claim that it was Lively, not them, who engaged in a calculated smear campaign, an allegation which she has denied. The New York Times plans to “vigorously defend against the lawsuit.” They stated that their story was thoroughly and responsibly reported, based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that they quote accurately and at length in the article.
On the very same day, Lively initiated a legal action against Baldoni, Wayfarer, Heath, Sarowitz, It Ends With Us Movie LLC, Nathan, Nathan’s company TAG, and Abel in New York. The court documents reveal that she is accusing these defendants of sexual harassment, retaliation, failing to address harassment, aiding and abetting harassment and retaliation, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and false light invasion of privacy. These accusations were initially detailed in the complaint she filed with CRD earlier that month. In response to this lawsuit, Baldoni and his associates counter-sued _The New York Times_ – a party not included in Lively’s suit – prompting her legal team to issue a statement to TopMob News. They clarified that “the claims in this lawsuit do not alter the facts presented in her CRD and federal complaints.” They further stated, “Contrary to Wayfarer’s assertion, Lively’s administrative complaint against them was not a tactic to avoid filing a lawsuit against Baldoni or anyone else, nor was litigation an unintended outcome. As evidenced by the federal complaint filed today, this is not accurate.
In their lawsuit against The New York Times, Baldoni and his team have made it clear that they have not finished their legal actions. According to court documents, there are other parties involved who have acted wrongly, and they intend to file more lawsuits in the future. In a January 2 interview with NBC News, Baldoni’s attorney Freedman confirmed that they plan to sue Lively as well.
The chatter about Baldoni and Lively hasn’t ended there. Some people on social media have suggested that Reynolds made fun of Baldoni in his movie “Deadpool & Wolverine” through the character Nicepool.
Reynolds has not yet spoken out on these rumors, but Baldoni’s lawyer Freedman shared his thoughts on the matter.
During an interview on “The Megyn Kelly Show,” posted to YouTube on January 7th, Freedman said: “In my opinion, if your wife is sexually harassed, you don’t make light of Justin Baldoni’s situation. You don’t turn it into a joke. Instead, you take it seriously, file HR complaints, and follow due process. What you shouldn’t do is mock the person.
In response to your lawsuit, Lively’s legal team asserts there have been continued instances of harassment against her rather than a simple disagreement or he-said-she-said situation. The allegations involve serious charges of sexual harassment and retaliation, supported by solid evidence. Instead of addressing these accusations, they claim Wayfarer and its associates have escalated their attacks on Lively since she filed the lawsuit.
While the legal proceedings are ongoing, her lawyers encourage everyone to remember that sexual harassment and retaliation are unacceptable in any workplace or industry. They warn against tactics like blaming the victim or suggesting they invited the behavior, brought it upon themselves, or lied. Another tactic is to reverse the roles of victim and offender, implying that the accused is actually the victim.
Lively’s legal team emphasizes that such concepts serve to minimize and trivialize serious misconduct allegations. They also point out that media statements do not serve as a defense against her claims and they will pursue her case in court.
On January 16th, Baldoni, Heath, Wayfarer, publicist Abel, crisis communication specialist Nathan, and It Ends With Us Movie LLC filed a lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds, Leslie Sloane (Lively’s publicist), and Sloane’s firm Vision PR in New York. The plaintiffs accuse all defendants of civil extortion, defamation, false light invasion of privacy, breach of good faith and fair dealing, intentional and negligent interference with contractual relations, and economic advantage in New York.
The plaintiffs deny Lively’s allegations of sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign against her. Instead, they claim that Lively seized control of It Ends With Us, worked with Reynolds, Sloane, Jones, and others to harm the plaintiffs’ reputation in the press after facing backlash for promoting the film (which Lively claims she did according to Sony’s marketing plan).
In their lawsuit, plaintiffs claim that defendants collaborated with The New York Times to publish a sensational but untrue news article. The media outlet maintains its report’s accuracy. Regarding this matter, Freedman stated to TopMob: “Blake Lively was either deceived by her team or deliberately misled the truth.
Lively’s legal team referred to his lawsuit as “an additional instance in the script for abusers,” stating to TopMob News, “This scenario is familiar: A woman presents solid proof of sexual harassment and retaliation, and the abuser tries to shift the blame onto the victim. Experts describe this tactic as DARVO – Deny allegations, Attack the accuser, Reverse Victim and Offender.
She went on to claim that he responded by counterattacking her after she had brought charges against him, stating that Baldoni is attempting to change the storyline to one where Lively took over creative control and distanced herself from Mr. Baldoni.
It was further stated, “The proof will make clear that both the cast members and others encountered unpleasant encounters with Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer. Additionally, the evidence will demonstrate that Sony requested Ms. Lively to supervise their version of the film, which they later distributed and achieved significant success.
Her team went on to slam Baldoni’s reaction to her allegations of harassment.
In a nutshell, their defense against sexual harassment accusations revolves around blaming the victim, implying she invited it and it was her fault. Their explanation for the incident centers on what she wore. To summarize, while the victim emphasizes the abuse, the abuser focuses on the victim. This tactic of criticizing the woman is desperate, doesn’t disprove the evidence presented in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and will ultimately fall short.
As a die-hard fan, I simply couldn’t contain my excitement when Baldoni’s legal team unveiled exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from the filming of “It Ends With Us”. The actor’s actions in this video, they claim, completely contradict Ms. Lively’s portrayal of him, offering a more authentic glimpse into his true character on set.
According to Baldoni’s lawyers, the particular scene was intended to depict the two characters developing feelings for each other and yearning to be near one another. It is evident that both actors were acting appropriately and professionally within the context of the scene, demonstrating respect towards each other.
Nonetheless, Lively’s legal advisors contend that the video supports, word for word, what Ms. Lively stated in her lawsuit. They argue that every second of this scenario was spontaneously acted out by Mr. Baldoni without any prior consultation or approval.
The video depicts Ms. Lively moving back and continually urging the characters to converse instead, which she conveyed to TopMob News in a declaration. “Women who have experienced unwelcome physical contact at work will likely empathize with Ms. Lively’s unease,” was stated in the communication.
In their ongoing case, the couple wrote a letter to the judge asking for attorney Freedman, who leads Baldoni’s legal team, to be restricted from making public statements. This is to prevent any inappropriate behavior during the ongoing court proceedings.
A seven-minute audio message reportedly sent by Baldoni to Lively during the filming of It Ends With Us was made public. In this recording, it seems that the director mentioned the movie’s rooftop scene which Lively had rewritten, and discussed how these alterations were supposedly presented to him in a meeting with Reynolds and their mutual friend Taylor Swift.
He shared with Lively, “Besides being among the most imaginative individuals globally, we ought to all be fortunate enough to have friends similar to them. The combination of your talents is simply extraordinary.
In the recording, it appears that Baldoni expressed an apology to the actress for his less-than-warm response to her script. He said, “I made a mistake. Here’s something important to understand about me: I will acknowledge and apologize when I fall short.
Approximately one month following the submission of Lively’s legal complaint against Baldoni, a court hearing was scheduled for March 9, 2026.
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2025-02-21 04:20