Blake Lively sued Justin Baldoni, the director and actor of her film It Ends With Us, for sexual harassment in January. She accused him of inappropriate behaviour, including showing her nude images and videos of women, discussing his past "pornography addiction," making remarks about cast and crew genitalia, and commenting on Lively's weight. Now, comedian Chelsea Handler took a jab at Lively and Baldoni at the Critics Choice Awards, mocking their legal feud for 'distracting' Hollywood from the LA wildfires.
During her time on stage, Chelsea said, "I want to acknowledge that we've been through a lot lately, not just here in Los Angeles, but our entire country," Handler said, "waking up every day not knowing what news we're going to hear that will disappoint or horrify us."
"So it is important in times like these to have a distraction, and that's why I want to personally extend my gratitude to Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively. Thank you for providing us with that distraction," she continued.
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Chelsea Handler's joke about the Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively lawsuit during the #CriticsChoiceAwardspic.twitter.com/hlhjjj4hOJ
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She further quipped that there would be no sequel to It Ends With Us due to their dispute, "I'm grateful. I think we're all grateful. And I think we're good. I think everybody in this room, no matter whose side you're on, we can all agree to accept that there's probably not going to be a sequel."
Neither Baldoni nor Lively were at the event.
Blake Lively’s husband, actor Ryan Reynolds also skipped the 2025 Critics Choice Awards, where his 2024 film Deadpool & Wolverine won Best Comedy.
Blake and Justin's legal dispute is scheduled for a court hearing on March 9, 2026 in New York.
Earlier, in his lawsuit, Baldoni alleged that Lively had taken control of It Ends With Us during post-production, sidelining him. He claimed she even had him removed from the film’s publicity posters. Additionally, Colleen Hoover, the author of the book on which the film is based, also distanced herself from him.
It Ends With Us also starred Brandon Sklenar, Jenny Slate, and Hasan Minhaj.