Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively were today accused of gaslighting for joking about their bitter row with Justin Baldoni during last night’s SNL 50th Anniversary Special.
The couple’s decision to attend the event and then laugh off their legal battle with the It Ends With Us star in a skit watched by millions around the world has raised eyebrows in Hollywood, one insider has said.
And Justin Baldoni’s legal team will seize upon it, the source claims, especially after Blake said in December that she was suffering from ‘grief, fear, trauma, and extreme anxiety‘.
‘This will be used against them. This isn’t a laughing matter and Blake has been speaking about how traumatic it’s all been and how it’s affected her mental health but she can still glam up, show up and laugh about it. It’s sending mixed messages’, the source said.
‘It feels like we are being gaslit and I fear it could be a wrong move’.
The SNL celebration was the first time in two months that Blake and Ryan had been seen together on a red carpet.
In December Blake sued her It Ends With Us co-star Justin for ‘severe emotional distress’, claiming he was inappropriate on set including during sex scenes.
But two months on she returned to the red carpet with her husband and smiled and laughed as he performed a deadpan joke about the scandal that has engulfed them.
Behind them was Kevin Costner, whose terse reaction to Reynolds’ joke has gone viral.
Blake Lively, 37, smiled and laughed as Ryan Reynolds cracked a deadpan joke about the It Ends With Us scandal
Sitting just behind Reynolds and Lively was Oscar winner and Yellowstone star Kevin Costner, who appeared to grimace at the lighthearted treatment of such serious allegations, which include claims of sexual harassment and smear campaigns
Hollywood power couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have been tied in litigation with Justin Baldoni over It Ends With Us
Baldoni and Blake fell out spectacularly over their movie that earned $148 million in domestic box office, and $350 million globally
The muted applause for Ryan compared to some of the other stars who took part in the routine was also noted by some.
A British Hollywood insider told MailOnline today that the appearance on the SNL 50th Anniversary Special – and the joke that Ryan delivered – was a mistake by the couple.
‘Kevin Costner’s face said it all. He was thinking “what the f*** is he doing”,’ the insider said.
The source, who works with stars in LA and London, said: ‘I don’t think it’s a good move at all. If you heard the applause – his was pretty muted compared with others.
‘This will be used against them and with the financial backing of Wayfair and its owner Baldoni and his team will not stop.
‘My advice would have been to keep quiet, stay out of the public eye and wait until all this is over’.
In a skit with hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Reynolds, 48, stood up from the audience alongside Lively, 37, and said, ‘I have a question.’
He was asked: ‘Oh Ryan Reynolds, how’s it going?’ to which the Deadpool star deadpanned: ‘Great – why, what have you heard?’ – in a nod to the months of headlines regarding the troubled production of the summer hit It Ends with Us.
The outing marked the first time in two months Lively, 37, attended a red carpet event, which last occurred prior to the scandal with Baldoni , 41, erupting late last year.
Lively and Reynolds were joined by a litany of fellow A-listers at the event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the NBC staple, including SNL alums Eddie Murphy, Kristen Wiig, Adam Sandler , Chris Rock, Bill Murray, Leslie Jones, David Spade and Jon Lovitz.
Other perennial stars on hand for the high-profile evening in Gotham included Kim Kardashian, Aubrey Plaza, Paul McCartney, Cher , Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, Steven Spielberg, Kevin Costner, Jason Momoa , Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Paul Simon, among many others.
Ryan raises his hand to ask a question in the pre-planned sketch
Lively looked stylish in a silver gown with her blonde tresses down in her comeback outing
Lively has accused Baldoni of sexual harassment in a lawsuit; while Baldoni accused Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane of defamation and extortion in a $400 million suit
The couple was seen in a posed shot shared by SNL alum Chevy Chase on Instagram Sunday
The A-list couple appeared to be in good spirits amid their outing, as entertainment icons such as Steven Spielberg, Kevin Costner and Cher flanked the pair in the crowd.
But Costner in particular didn’t appear to find it funny.
Lively and Reynolds put on a united front as they attended the TV event in the Big Apple at Rockefeller Plaza amid months of scandal.
The couple was seen in a posed shot shared by SNL alumni Chevy Chase – no stranger to on-set controversy himself – on Instagram.
Lively has accused Baldoni of sexual harassment in a lawsuit; while Baldoni accused Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane of defamation and extortion in a $400million suit
