Critics Choice host Chelsea Handler savagely trolls Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni for their ongoing feud

The ‘It Ends With Us’ co-stars have filed respective lawsuits against each other. During the star-studded February 7 ceremony at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, the 49-year-old comedian called Baldoni and Lively’s legal drama, which began back in December 2024, a nice “distraction.”. “I want to acknowledge that we've been through a lot lately, not just here in Los Angeles, but our entire country,” Handler started. “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,” she continued. “Thank you for providing us with that distraction.”. “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.

“It ends with us guys,” Handler said, not-so-subtly nodding to the 2024 film at the center of Baldoni and Lively’s back-and-forth. The two actors were absent from the show on Friday night. The 37-year-old Gossip Girl alum and the 41-year-old Jane the Virgin lead starred in the movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 drama novel where Lively played florist “Lily Bloom” and Baldoni directed and acted as her abusive love interest, “Ryle Kincaid.”.

Speculation that the two leads weren’t on good terms erupted after fans noticed they’d been avoiding each other throughout the press tour. People also started accusing Lively of her seemingly “tone-deaf” approach to the movie’s focus on emotional abuse. In December 2024, about four months after It Ends With Us was released in theaters, the A Simple Favor actress sued Baldoni for alleged sexual harassment.

In her filing, Lively claimed that the fan backlash was the result of an alleged smear campaign organized by Baldoni with the help of Texas-based crisis publicist Jed Wallace. It was claimed that Wallace had been hired by Baldoni’s public relations team and had “weaponized a digital army around the country from New York to Los Angeles to create, seed and promote content that appeared to be authentic on social media platforms and internet chat forums.”.

At the time, Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman argued: “Audiences found Lively’s own actions, interviews and marketing during the promotional tour distasteful, and responded organically to that which the media themselves picked up on. “TAG PR operated as any other crisis management firm would when hired by a client experiencing threats by two extremely powerful people with unlimited resources,” Freedman continued in a statement obtained by People.