Ryan Reynolds grabbed all the headlines during his recent appearance at the SNL 50 Anniversary Special, wherein he made a contentious joke about his wife Blake Lively’s ongoing legal tussle with Justin Baldoni. However, a longtime Saturday Night Live crew member has now come out to reveal that the Hollywood A-lister had initially planned a different quip for the event.
It was Ryan Reynolds’ idea to improvise his SNL 50 joke
In what was his and Blake Lively’s first public outing with one another since the latter filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni, the Deadpool & Wolverine star alluded to the controversy by jumping in on a live sketch.
The act at the 50th Anniversary Special included SNL veterans Tina Fey and Amy Poehler asking, “Ryan Reynolds, how’s it going?” In response to this, the Canadian actor issued a joke, stating, “Great! Why, what have you heard?”
Nevertheless, Ryan Reynolds actually had a different joke lined up for the SNL 50 event, according to Chris “Wally” Feresten. Fondly called Cue Card Wally, the long-term SNL crewmate revealed the said information during his appearance on the Fifi, Fev & Nick podcast.
“He had a different line in rehearsal, and he pitched that to replace it. So that was his idea to do it. We wouldn’t want to do anything too controversial unless they were in on it. So yeah, that was his line, that was his idea to do it,” Feresten stated.
The SNL 50 joke has since drawn strong reactions from users on the internet, with many calling out Reynolds for his insensitive take on an otherwise grave situation. Justin Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, also shared his thoughts about the actor’s comment in his recent appearance on Hot Mics with Billy Bush.
“I’m unaware of anybody, frankly, whose wife has been sexually harassed and has made jokes about that type of situation,” Freedman exclaimed. Meanwhile, the ordeal between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni continues to escalate with time, with the case now set to find a resolution through court proceedings. The trial between the two parties will commence on March 9, 2026.
Originally reported by Apoorv Rastogi on ComingSoon.net.
