What was Lorne Michaels' text to Dana Carvey after SNL50? Comedian reveals their conversation about Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's legal battle

Saturday Night Live alumni Dana Carvey revealed on his podcast Fly on the Wall on February 20 that when he texted SNL producer and creator Lorne Michaels to congratulate him for the SNL50: The Anniversary Special episode, which aired on February 16, Michaels kept texting about the ongoing lawsuit between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

Dana Carvey told his podcast co-host and former SNL member David Spade that Michaels believed Justin Baldoni would countersue and Blake Lively could get a new attorney. Carvey said:

"Instead of talking about the show, he just goes, 'Baldoni will now countersue. I think that Lively will probably get a new attorney.'"

Carvey also shared that when he tried to change the topic and talk about Tom Hanks' sketch and Steve Martin's monologue, Lorne Michaels again started talking about the lawsuit, saying actor Ryan Reynolds is well off. Carvey said:

"I don’t know where Ryan Reynolds is on this but certainly they have deep pockets."

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Lorne Michaels's biography was released this week

Lorne Michaels at SNL50: The Homecoming Concert (Image via Getty)

According to Deadline's February 21 report, Lorne Michaels' biography, Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live by Susan Morrison, was released by Random House two days after the SNL anniversary episode aired. The biography sheds light on how Lorne Michaels created SNL.

In an interview with Toronto Life on February 18, Susan Morrison, the book's author and former editor of The New Yorker, shared how she approached Michaels at first. She said:

"I went to see Lorne and said, 'I’ve just signed a deal for a book about you and the show. I don’t need anything from you, but if you want to talk to me, I think it would be a richer and better book.' He was taken by surprise—a little uncomfortable at first—and he wanted some time to think about it."

Morrison shared either Tina Fey or Amy Poehler told her that Michaels never hires a comedian directly, and he makes someone else do it, as he tries not to get emotionally invested with people. She said:

"Either Tina Fey or Amy Poehler told me that very often when someone’s hired, Lorne isn’t the one to say, We’re bringing you to New York—you’ve got the job. He outsources that to somebody else, I think to spare himself the emotional investment. Like, what if it doesn’t work out and he has to fire the person a year later?"

Morrison shared one instance in which John Belushi showed up unannounced in Michaels' lobby early in the morning. She said Michaels learned from these instances that he must maintain distance from the comedians on SNL.

"He told me that he had to learn to draw boundaries. In the first five years, John Belushi would show up in his lobby at 3:30 in the morning. You can’t really have that."

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For the unversed, Lorne Michaels is a writer and producer. He produced the Late Night series, The Kids in the Hall, and The Tonight Show, along with Saturday Night Live.