Why Nikki Glaser Won’t Joke About Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s ‘It Ends With Us’ Lawsuits

Nikki Glaser will undoubtedly get very topical as she hosts the 82nd Golden Globes ceremony, but there’s one topic she isn’t going to touch. In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Glaser said she is not going to discuss Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s It Ends With Us legal saga. She explained the issue is too “hot-button” right now.

The Lively and Baldoni legal drama has been the talk of Hollywood ever since the former Gossip Girl accused her It Ends With Us co-star and director of sexual harassment and allegedly concocting a smear campaign. While it may be dominating the news cycle, particularly after the recent news of Baldoni’s own lawsuit against the New York Times (which initially published the report about Lively’s claims), Glaser isn’t planning on mentioning it during her Golden Globes hosting stint.

“I think the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni thing is such a hot-button thing right now that even a mere mention of it will seem like I could be on the wrong side of things, even though I would never be,” Glaser said. “I also don’t want to give his name any — I’m mad I even know his name, to be honest with you, so I don’t need to say it anymore.”

Glaser’s comments come a year after the previous Golden Globes host, Jo Koy, came under fire for some of his jokes during the ceremony. So, it may be best that she is “not gonna go so hard that anyone’s gonna be offended.”

“I’ve made a point not to, and that’s not to disappoint anyone who’s hoping I’m going to pull a Ricky Gervais. I’m not Ricky Gervais,” she continued. “This isn’t my last Golden Globes, this is my first one. He really went hard on his last one. He was ready to burn some bridges [since] it didn’t matter anymore.”

The It Ends With Us drama doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. In late December, the New York Times reported Lively was suing Baldoni over the alleged sexual harassment she experienced while filming the Colleen Hoover adaptation. Lively also alleged she suffered “severe emotional distress” over the supposed smear campaign Baldoni and his team concocted to attempt to damage her reputation. Baldoni denied these claims and, in early January, sued the New York Times for $250 million over their article outlining the allegations. He also reportedly plans to sue Lively.