On Friday night, mere minutes after the New York Knicks wiped the floor with the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Playoffs, Bill Maher kicked off his latest โReal Timeโ monologue by wading into the murky waters of Blake Lively v. Justin Baldoni.
Yes, just before the case was set to go to trial, the two sworn enemies reached a settlement in their lengthy legal battle over the making of the weepy hit โIt Ends with Us,โ with Lively accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and Baldoni countering with claims of defamation. There was no money exchanged, but Lively can still go after Baldoni for her substantial attorney fees.
โI know why youโre happy,โ exclaimed Maher at the start of his HBO show. โGreat news. Peace at last. We have an agreement. A deal. A peace deal โ not the Iran War, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Thatโs who Iโm talking about.โ
โOh, man. Weโve been reading about this for like a year it went on,โ he continued. โAll this arguing and suing, and it turns out: no settlement money at all. And all over a movie called โIt Ends with Usโ that everyone hated? Did you see that movie? It was harder to get through than the Strait of Hormuz.โ
Ba-dum-tsh!
The comedian also addressed the news of Jeffrey Epsteinโs purported suicide note, which was released this week by a federal judge. The note โ which is unverified โ was supposedly written in July 2019, a few weeks before Epstein was found dead in his cell at Manhattanโs Metropolitan Correctional Center. Epsteinโs alleged note ends with the line, โWhatcha want me to do โย Bust out cryin!!โ โ a bizarre nod to โThe Little Rascals.โ
โSpeaking of killing, apparently they found Jeffrey Epsteinโs suicide note,โ said Maher. โApparently, it was from the guy โ his cellmate โ who Epstein says tried to kill him, but heโs the guy who found the note. And it says, โThey investigated meโ โ and then in all caps, it says, โFOUND NOTHING!!!โ Who does that sound like? I canโt quite place itโฆโ
Maher was clearly implying that the note sounds an awful lot like one of Epsteinโs closest pals, President Donald Trump.
The comic then cracked: โNo, Iโm not suspicious, but the note does end with, โThank you for your attention to this matter!โโ