Ryan Reynolds subtly alluded to the legal saga entangling his wife, Blake Lively, and their co-star Justin Baldoni, during the grand 50th-anniversary special of NBC's Saturday Night Live. Roughly an hour into the over-three-hour extravaganza on Sunday, former SNL legends Tina Fey and Amy Poehler graced the stage to field questions from an eager audience.
Among the star-studded attendees was Ryan Reynolds, a former host himself, who was seated beside a beaming Blake Lively. When asked how he was faring, Reynolds responded with an upbeat, "Great!" However, his subsequent query, tinged with apparent concern, "Why, what have you heard?" hinted at deeper currents. Lively's sharp glance at Reynolds and fleeting loss of her smile suggested, albeit playfully, that her stern look was part of the ongoing bit.
Prior to the telecast, Reynolds and Lively had graced the red carpet hand-in-hand, presenting a united front. Recently, Lively had filed an 80-page lawsuit against Baldoni, her co-star and director in 'It Ends With Us', accusing him of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her. In retaliation, Baldoni filed a countersuit for $400 million against both Lively and Reynolds, alleging extortion and defamation.
During the Fey-Poehler segment, other notable participants included Tim Meadows, Cher, Quinta Brunson, Keith Richards, a self-doubting Jon Hamm (who queried if he was "funny"), Zach Galifianakis, Bad Bunny, Jason Momoa, Peyton Manning (who playfully advised Lorne Michaels against retirement and joked about its pitfalls), and Seth Meyers, who quipped to Fey and Poehler that the Q&A session felt like an opportunity to give airtime to celebrities not featured in the show. Fey responded with a quip of her own, "Not to me, what do you think, Rev. Al Sharpton and Ray Romano?" The camera then cut to Romano and Sharpton, who appeared perfectly content, remarking, "It feels natural to us."
Adding to the humor, it was revealed that Jon Lovitz was not seated in the studio but rather at the American Girl store across the street, surrounded by dolls. Meanwhile, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, present in the audience, kindly occupied Lovitz's seat for her blind dog.
Steve Martin captivated the audience with the opening monologue for the SNL special, while Sabrina Carpenter and Paul Simon kicked off the broadcast with their enchanting rendition of "Homeward Bound."
