by
Dimitrios
Kambouris/Getty
Images)
SNL’s
50th
anniversary
has
spawned
a
lot
of
commentary.
A
good
bit
of
it
was
about
them
bringing
back
Black
Jeopardy.
As
great
as
Tracy
Morgan
was
as
Darius,
Eddie
Murphy
as
Tracy
Morgan
stole
the
show.
4
Cheese
Lasagna
or
nothing!
Other
commentary
has
been
less
appetizing,
namely
Brian
Freedman’s
remarks
on
a
quick
joke
Ryan
Reynolds
during
the
taping.
People
has
coverage:
In
one
moment
during
the
show,
Reynolds
seemingly
referenced
their
headline-making
lawsuits
with
[Justin]
Baldoni
when
he
was
asked
from
the
stage,
“How’s
it
going?”
and
the
actor,
with
[Blake]
Lively
seated
beside
him,
responded,
“Great,
why?
What
have
you
heard?”
before
moving
on
with
the
bit.
…
“I’m
unaware
of
anybody,
frankly,
whose
wife
has
been
sexually
harassed
and
has
made
jokes
about
that
type
of
situation,”
said
[Baldoni’s
attorney,
Brian]
Freedman.
“I
can’t
think
of
anyone
who’s
done
anything
like
that.
It
surprised
me.”
First
things
first,
it
isn’t
like
he
made
some
grand
joke.
“Great,
what
have
you
heard?”
is
“Get
a
load
of
this
guy”‘s
tongue-in-cheek
and
heavily
decaffeinated
cousin,
not
a
15
minute
cold
open
on
his
wife’s
court
proceedings.
On
top
of
that,
it
makes
perfect
sense
for
a
high
profile
celebrity
to
make
a
quick
nod
toward
the
public
scrutiny
they’ve
been
under
so
that
they
can
get
the
audience
focused
on
why
they’re
actually
there:
to
do
their
jobs.
It’s
easy
to
get
caught
up
in
the
fame
and
glitz,
but
on
some
level
this
was
just
a
live
streamed
employee
who,
knowing
that
the
audience
heard
about
their
legal
troubles,
decided
to
break
the
4th
wall
and
say
“Lawyers,
can’t
live
with
’em,
can
definitely
live
without
em!”
before
straightening
his
tie
and
carrying
on
with
his
PowerPoint
presentation.
Not
to
mention
that
Ryan
Reynolds
is
Deadpool,
after
all
—
4th
wall
breaks
are
kind
of
his
thing.
Second…can
some
junior
associate
quietly
inform
Brian
that
dark
humor
is
a
thing?
Even
if
Reynolds
or
Lively
made
the
decision
to
allude
to
the
trial
in
stronger
terms,
it
should
generally
be
read
in
bad
form
to
spin
a
clearly
signaled
self-deprecating
joke
as
an
excuse
to
discredit
someone’s
truthfulness
in
court.
Further,
if
someone
who
was
sexually
harassed
or
supported
their
spouse
who
was
did
decide
to
go
on
and
do
a
15
cold
open,
more
power
to
them
so
long
as
all
of
the
parties
involved
consent.
Humor
can
provide
catharsis
and
community
for
some
of
the
worst
things
that
can
happen
to
people
—
sexual
assault
included.
Congratulations
to
everyone
that
helped
make
SNL’s
50th
year
special
a
hit
with
its
viewers.
If
you
haven’t
seen
it,
go
watch
it!
And
a
suggestion
to
Brian
Freedman
—
watch
your
mouth.
Seriously,
the
judge
already
told
you
to
shut
up.
Focus
on
the
case
instead
of
scrutinizing
jokes.
There
have
been
several
lawyers
who
managed
a
pivot
from
legal
to
comedy,
but
I
get
the
feeling
that
jokes
aren’t
your
forte.
Earlier:
Benchslapped!
Federal
Judge
Does
Not
Take
Kindly
To
Litigation
Via
Press
Release
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
cannot
swim, a
published
author
on
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected] and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.