Several Hollywood-related topics have received significant attention amongst the general public as of late. One of them is the ongoing legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in relation to their work on the 2024 film It Ends with Us. The subject was actually brought up in a public setting this past weekend, when Judd Apatow joked about it during an awards ceremony and had the room laughing. And, before that, he also took a jab at Kevin Costner and his Horizon: An American Saga films.
This Saturday, the Directors Guild of America Awards were held at the Beverly Hilton, where filmmakers were honored for their work over the past year. Judd Apatow served as host this year, which marked his sixth time holding down that position. During his address to attendees, he tackled politics by mentioning the likes of U.S. President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and more and referenced The Substance along with other hit films. He also took the shot (via THR) at the aforementioned western epics:
Imagine being Kevin Costner’s kids and realizing you don’t get a trust fund, but you do get to watch Horizon one and two whenever you like.
What the Knocked Up filmmaker was referring to was the fact that the first film in Kevin Costner’s four-part saga went belly up at the box office. The actor/director/writer/producer himself invested a lot of his own money into the productions. Following its release last summer, Horizon: Chapter 1 (which garnered mixed reviews) earned $37.8 million against a $50 million budget. That sum is arguably what led to the release date for the upcoming Horizon: Chapter 2 to be delayed from 2024 to 2025.
Judd Apatow eventually moved to the topic of films that did perform well at the box office last year. In doing so, he discussed the smash hit musical fantasy flick Wicked. Apatow lauded Jon M. Chu’s film for its success, before he quipped that “usually to make that much money you have to sue Blake Lively.” While that comment alone generated laughter, the comedian’s overall assessment of the situation involving the lukewarm-reviewed It Ends with Us:
So much hazarai over such a terrible movie.
“Hazarai” is a Yiddish term that essentially means “junk” or “junk,” and what the Superbad producer seemed to be saying is that the legal situation represents a lot of hoopla over one movie. The matter began in December 2024 when Blake Lively filed a legal complaint against Justin Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios banner, accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of the profitable It Ends with Us and for allegedly partnering with others to launch a smear campaign against her. Earlier this year, Lively formally sued Baldoni over the aforementioned claims. For his part, Baldoni denied the accusations and eventually sued not only Blake Lively but her husband, Ryan Reynolds and more for alleged defamation, extortion and more.
Such jokes from Judd Apatow aren’t all that surprising, as the veteran filmmaker is known for his sharp wit. He also tends to be quite topical when it comes to his sense of humor and, historically, he’s had no problem being as blunt as he deems necessary. As of right now, his barbs haven’t garnered responses from Kevin Costner, Blake Lively or Justin Baldoni. Whether they’d actually feel compelled to respond is unclear. At present, what’s evident is that Apatow still doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to his jokes.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(471x244:473x246)/CNN-New-Years-Eve-with-Anderson-Cooper-123124-9952e5f00fc1425f87113ba2bfb97b29.jpg "Anderson Cooper Says He Once ‘Hated’ New Year’s Eve While Co-Hosting CNN Broadcast")
