No, Ryan Reynolds Didn’t Pitch That SNL Joke About the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni Saga

A joke delivered by Ryan Reynolds during Saturday Night Live’s milestone show caused a flurry online. So whose idea was the punchline?

Reynolds and wife Blake Lively returned to the spotlight amid their legal battle with Justin Baldoni when they attended the starry SNL50: The Anniversary Special taping in New York City on Sunday, Feb. 16.

For one sketch, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey took questions from the audience, including an appearance from Reynolds, 48, who seemingly alluded to the headline-making lawsuits.

When asked “How’s it going?” the Deadpool actor, with Lively seated beside him, responded, “Great. Why? What have you heard?” before moving on with a bit about ingesting toxic Coneheads prosthetics.

Longtime SNL crew member Wally Feresten, a.k.a. “Cue Card Wally,” made an appearance on the Australian radio show Fifi, Fev & Nick to offer behind-the-scenes insight.

When asked if Reynolds improvised the joke, Feresten, who handwrites the cue cards used to help performers remember their lines during the live shows, said, “He had a different line in rehearsal and he pitched that. So that was his idea to do it. We wouldn’t want to do anything too controversial unless they were in on it. Yeah, that was his line. That was his idea.”

However, a spokesperson for SNL denied that claim to PEOPLE, noting that Feresten isn’t a writer involved in the show’s creative process.

Additionally, a source close to Reynolds tells PEOPLE, “The opening joke was pitched by SNL and never changed. The follow-up joke [about the Coneheads] was rewritten in rehearsal.”

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Bryan Freedman, a lawyer for Baldoni criticized Reynolds for making the joke in the middle of their ongoing legal battle. “I’m unaware of anybody, frankly, whose wife has been sexually harassed and has made jokes about that type of situation,” Freedman said on Hot Mics with Billy Bush Monday, adding, “It surprised me.”

Lively, 37, sued her It Ends With Us costar Baldoni, 41, and others in December, alleging sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign, which he denies. In January, Baldoni filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively and Reynolds, accusing them of defamation and extortion, a lawsuit her lawyers called “meritless.”

An insider told PEOPLE earlier this week that Lively, whose next film Another Simple Favor opens soon, was “nervous” to return to the spotlight but “excited to be out with friends and support Saturday Night Live.“

She and Reynolds, who wed in 2012 and share four kids, “had a great time,” the insider added: “It was nice getting out of the house and being around friends and familiar faces.”