Ryan Reynolds Skips SAG Awards Amid Wife Blake Lively's 'It Ends With Us' Legal Battle and 'SNL 50' Joke Backlash
Ryan Reynolds skipped the SAG Awards amid his wife's legal battle with Justin Baldoni.
Feb. 23 2025, Published 11:25 p.m. ET
Ryan Reynolds kept a low-profile and declined to attend the 2025 SAG Awards following backlash over joking about wife Blake Lively's legal drama with It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni at the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary special, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
While Reynolds, 48, was not confirmed to attend the event, fans wondered if he would still show up to the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles on February 23, as his anti-hero flick Deadpool & Wolverine was nominated in the Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble award category.
Baldoni responded to Lively's lawsuit with a $400million countersuit against his co-star and her husband.
It appeared the 48-year-old wasn't ready to have all cameras on him again, though, as he and Lively, 37, were both no shows at the star-studded event.
While award season is in full swing, Reynolds and Lively have their hands full with the contentious lawsuit against Baldoni, 41, in which the Gossip Girl alum has accused her co-star of sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign against her during the film's press tour.
Baldoni, who has denied Lively's claims, responded with a $400million countersuit against his co-star and Reynolds, claiming defamation, civil extortion, and false light invasion of privacy.
Reynolds faced backlash over joking about his wife's lawsuit at the 'SNL 50' event.
As RadarOnline.com reported, Reynolds was recently slammed for seemingly making light of his wife's legal woes during an SNL 50 skit with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.
While taking questions from the audience, Fey and Poehler called on Reynolds, who was seated next to his wife, and said: "Ryan Reynolds, how's it going?"
He responded: "Why? What have you heard?"
Although the crowd burst out in laughter, Lively's shocked face appeared to suggest she wasn't in on the joke, prompting backlash from fans online.
Longtime 'SNL' crew member Wally Feresten claimed it was Reynold's 'idea' to change his lines last minute.
Wally Feresten, also known as "Cue Card Wally," has been on SNL since 1990 – and claimed it was Reynold's "idea" to change up the lines originally written for him in the skit.
Feresten claimed the Deadpool star "pitched" the joke himself last minute.
During an appearance on Australian radio show Fifi, Fev & Nick, Feresten explained: "He had a different line in rehearsal, and he pitched that (line) to replace it. So that was his idea to do it there.
"So yeah, that was his line. That was his idea to do. We wouldn't want to do anything too controversial unless they were in on it."
Critics warned Reynold's 'joke' was 'minimizing' trauma of victims.
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While Reynolds thought the line was good, viewers at home found the "joke" to be in poor taste.
Shari Botwin, LCSW and author of Thriving After Trauma: Stories of Living and Healing, warned Reynolds crossed a line and "minimized" trauma felt by victims of sexual abuse.
She said: "Jokes about sexual harassment reinforce rape culture, and further silences victims.
"It minimizes and discredits their experience, perpetuating the idea that 'no one will believe me or take me seriously.'
"Joking about sexual harassment insinuates that the victim is to blame, making it even more unlikely that someone will come forward. It normalizes and excuses this type of behavior."
