Honestly, it feels like forever ago that Blake Lively was the reigning queen of the Upper East Side, strutting through Grand Central in a brown leather jacket. But if you’re scouring the internet for a Blake Lively SNL skit, you’re probably either feeling nostalgic for the late 2000s or you've heard the recent buzz about her drama-filled 2025 appearance.
The truth is, Blake’s history with Saturday Night Live is surprisingly sparse given how massive of a star she is. She’s only hosted once. Just one time! It was back in December 2009, right at the peak of Gossip Girl mania. If you were watching NBC that night, you saw an actress trying desperately to prove she was more than just Serena van der Woodsen. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it was, well, a little weird.
Lately, though, the conversation has shifted. People aren't just talking about her old characters; they're talking about the "skit" that wasn't really a skit—her awkward, headline-grabbing cameo at the SNL 50th Anniversary Special in February 2025.
The One That Started It All: Gossip Girl Staten Island
When Blake hosted in Season 35, the writers knew exactly what the audience wanted. They wanted Serena. But since SNL loves to twist things, they gave us Gossip Girl: Staten Island.
It’s easily the most famous Blake Lively SNL skit because it’s so jarringly different from her actual brand. Instead of sipping martinis at the Palace, Blake’s character is wearing a velour tracksuit, rocking a thick accent, and worrying about someone barfing on her Aldo shoes.
She played it with 100% commitment. You’ve got Bill Hader and Fred Armisen doing their best Italian-American wiseguy bits in the background, but Blake is the one yelling about "public fairies" (ferries) and "throwing eggs at the synagogue." It’s camp. It’s messy. It’s probably the most three-dimensional character she’s ever played on that stage, mostly because she was leaning so hard into the parody.
The Potato Chip Fever Dream
If you want to see the weird side of SNL, you have to look up the NASA sketch from her 2009 episode. It’s one of those "ten-to-one" sketches—the ones that air right before the show ends when everyone is tired and the writers have lost their minds.
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Blake plays an assistant to Will Forte. Jason Sudeikis is a potential astronaut. The entire plot? Sudeikis eats a potato chip he wasn't supposed to eat.
The sketch devolves into Blake and Will Forte literally screaming at the top of their lungs for five minutes. "Potato chip thief!" It’s loud. It’s aggressive. It’s the kind of comedy that makes some people switch the channel and others become lifelong fans. Blake didn't blink. She matched Will Forte’s manic energy note for note, which is actually pretty impressive for a guest host who usually plays the "straight man" in scenes.
Why She Didn't Host in 2024
Fast forward to late 2024. Blake was everywhere because of It Ends With Us. Rumors were flying that she was set to host the Season 50 premiere. Fans were ready.
Then, she backed out.
The reports at the time were pretty messy. It turns out the drama with her co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, had escalated into a full-blown legal war. We now know, thanks to court filings from late 2024 and early 2025, that she felt she couldn't go on a comedy show while dealing with accusations of "authorship" battles and a $400 million lawsuit from Baldoni. Jean Smart ended up taking the gig.
It was a huge missed opportunity for a big-budget Blake Lively SNL skit to address the rumors, but she chose to stay home. Until the anniversary special, that is.
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The SNL 50 Cameo: A Joke That Landed Flat?
On February 16, 2025, Blake and her husband Ryan Reynolds finally showed up at Studio 8H for the SNL50: The Anniversary Special. They weren't in a scripted sketch, but they were part of a "surprise" audience bit with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.
When Tina asked Ryan how things were going, he quipped, "Great, why? What have you heard?"
It was a direct jab at the Baldoni legal battle. Blake was sitting right next to him, looking a bit "nervous," according to fans on X (formerly Twitter). Some people loved the "IDGAF" energy. Others thought it was a calculated attempt at damage control.
The internet went into a tailspin. Within hours, clips of the "skit" were everywhere, with people analyzing Blake’s facial expressions like they were the Zapruder film. It wasn't a traditional performance, but it’s definitely the most talked-about moment she’s ever had on that show.
Other Notable Sketches from the Archives
- Virginiaca Shops for a Skirt: Blake plays the daughter of Kenan Thompson’s "Virginiaca" character. It’s classic Kenan-style slapstick, with Blake mostly just reacting to her "mother" being a nightmare in a clothing store.
- The Muppet Monologue: For her 2009 monologue, she sang Christmas carols with the Swedish Chef and Fozzie Bear. It was sweet, safe, and very "Hollywood starlet."
- Shy Ronnie: She made a cameo in the Digital Short "Shy Ronnie" with Rihanna and Andy Samberg. It’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, but it’s a staple of the Lonely Island era.
What Most People Get Wrong
People often remember Blake as being "too serious" for SNL, but that’s not really fair. If you watch her 2009 episode, she’s actually very game. She did a Cher impression. She played a bowling pro sponsored by Vagisil. She wasn't afraid to look ridiculous.
The problem is that she hasn't been back to host in over 15 years. Her public persona became so polished—the Met Gala gowns, the Martha Stewart-adjacent lifestyle, the Ryan Reynolds banter—that we forgot she started as a teen actor who was down to do weird voices on live TV.
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Why It Still Matters Today
In 2026, as the "Lively v. Wayfarer Studios" trial approaches this March, these SNL clips are getting a second life. People are looking back at her old performances to see "who she really is." Is she the girl-next-door who can laugh at herself, or the calculated mogul the lawsuits describe?
Comedy has a way of stripping away the PR. In the Gossip Girl: Staten Island sketch, you see a glimpse of a comedic actress who probably should have done more movies like A Simple Favor and fewer heavy dramas.
Moving Forward: How to Find the Best Clips
If you're looking to watch these for yourself, don't just search "Blake Lively SNL." You'll get a million tabloid videos about her 2025 cameo.
Instead, look for:
- "SNL Season 35 Episode 8" on Peacock. This is the full episode with Rihanna.
- "Gossip Girl Staten Island" on the official SNL YouTube channel. It’s the high-water mark of her time there.
- "NASA Potato Chip Sketch" if you want to see her lose her mind with Will Forte.
The legal drama might be what’s trending right now, but those old sketches are a reminder of why we liked her in the first place. She’s a performer. Whether she’s playing a girl from Staten Island or a nervous wife in the audience of a 50th-anniversary special, she knows how to keep us watching.
If you're diving into the archives, start with the Staten Island sketch. It’s the perfect bridge between the Serena van der Woodsen era and the more "edgy" version of Blake we're seeing in the news today. You might be surprised at how well it holds up.
Next Steps: You can head over to the NBC website or Peacock to stream the full Season 35 episode. If you’re more interested in the 2025 legal fallout, searching for "Ryan Reynolds SNL 50 joke" will give you the most recent context on the Baldoni situation.