After Brandon Sklenar sparked speculation he was showing support for Justin Baldoni in his messy feud with Blake Lively, the It Ends With Us actor has now cleared the air.
Last week Sklenar, 34, wore a brooch at the Vanity Fair Oscars party that was identical to the one Baldoni, 41, sported at the It Ends With Us premiere last year – and the accessory did not go unnoticed by fans who theorized it was his way of standing by Justin, who has been embroiled in a messy legal battle with Lively, 37.
But Sklenar has insisted that was not the case and the identical brooches was merely a complete coincidence.
‘Honestly, no. I wish I could say there was,’ he told People at the SXSW premiere of his film Drop on Sunday when asked if there was a hidden meaning behind the pin.
‘That was a total happenstance,’ the 1923 actor continued. ‘I woke up in the morning and saw an article and I was like, “Oh, damn.” I literally had no idea.’
Sklenar said he merely wanted a wear a floral brooch to the bash.
Brandon Sklenar has insisted the brooch he wore to the Vanity Fair Oscars party earlier this month was not his way of showing support for Justin Baldoni
On Sunday, the 34-year-old New Jersey native appeared to don the same exact floral brooch to attend the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills that the 41-year-old filmmaker wore to the August 6th world premiere of It Ends With Us in Manhattan
He ultimately chose the pink rose pink due to it’s color.
‘Lo and behold, someone also wore that prior to me wearing it,’ he added.
Stylist Madeleine Kennedy procured the $1,806 Anabela Chan ‘Blush Parrot Bloom’ pin for Brandon, which is made from 18k gold vermeil and a 6.5 carat lab-grown citrine gemstone.
Fans of Justin might recall how he wore the fancy fascinator while allegedly banished by the 37-year-old Gossip Girl alum to the basement of AMC Lincoln Square Theater along with his friends and family, so she wouldn’t have to be in his presence.
Read More Blake Lively’s co-star melts down when asked painfully awkward Justin Baldoni question 
After Brandon posted a pH๏τo from the Oscars celebration to the Instagram – which was captioned ‘Vanity Fair X long live the ( brooch )’ – followers took note of the floral accessory.
User @chewbekahboo commented: ‘Isn’t this the same broach as JB at premier? Is this a stand in solidarity?’
Instagram user @lindsaydawnebateman wrote: ‘One apology can change everything.’
‘I think everyone should give Brandon a little grace. Imagine hearing from your female costar that she had been SH by the director,’ Instagram user @thesusanpresley commented.
‘A good man would support as he did without being messy. Now that more info has come to light he has taken a much more neutral stance. He was in a no win situation. I think he’s trying to navigate this mess carefully and I’m hoping the brooch is a sign of solidarity.’
Instagram user @audrey.kuhn8 encouraged: ‘It’s not too late to speak up and stand up against power and money.’
‘The audacity to steal the floral pin idea from the same man you tried to so quickly take down,’ Instagram user @sultryinpink scoffed.
‘Do you not have any self respect? (Creative) energy vampires really need to be exposed.’
Instagram user @lmd_stf agreed, simply posting three poop emojis and three snake emojis.
‘Wear your florals!’ Instagram user @swings4thefence commented.
‘Too bad he didn’t care about the message until now.’
Instagram user @whathuhque wrote: ‘It’s a pretend to stand in solidarity broach. He knows he’s lost fans and so he’s now pretending to be on JBs side without having to say it and all ya’ll eating it up. He doesn’t mean it, he’s just doing it to save his instant dying career.’
Sklenar captioned his post about the A-list soirée: ‘Vanity Fair X long live the ( brooch )’
The 1923 actor’s 543K Instagram followers took note with user @chewbekahboo commenting: ‘Isn’t this the same broach as JB at premier? Is this a stand in solidarity?’
Instagram user @thesusanpresley commented: ‘I think everyone should give Brandon a little grace. Imagine hearing from your female costar that she had been SH by the director. A good man would support as he did without being messy. Now that more info has come to light he has taken a much more neutral stance. He was in a no win situation’
Instagram user @audrey.kuhn8 encouraged: ‘It’s not too late to speak up and stand up against power and money’
Instagram user @sultryinpink scoffed: ‘The audacity to steal the floral pin idea from the same man you tried to so quickly take down. Do you not have any self respect? (Creative) energy vampires really need to be exposed’
Instagram user @whathuhque wrote: ‘It’s a pretend to stand in solidarity broach. He knows he’s lost fans and so he’s now pretending to be on JBs side without having to say it and all ya’ll eating it up. He doesn’t mean it, he’s just doing it to save his instant dying career’
When cornered by THR at the same Oscars event, Brandon called the Lively versus Baldoni legal war ‘a tough situation’ but did not take a stance: ‘I just hope everyone remembers what the movie is about and why we made it in the first place. It’s about love. It’s about supporting women in general and helping people through tough times.’
But two months earlier, Sklenar famously tagged the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants alum with a heart emoji and reposted a link to her December 22nd New York Times article with the caption: ‘For the love of God read this.’
Two days earlier, Blake filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department against the Jane the Virgin alum for Sєxual harᴀssment and retaliation on the NYC set of It Ends with Us.
Justin immediately filed a libel lawsuit for $250M against the New York Times for biased coverage of Lively’s ‘vicious smear campaign’ and she filed a lawsuit against him and his PR team on December 31 for his ‘plan to undermine her reputation in retaliation.’
On January 16, Baldoni filed a second $400M lawsuit against the LA-born blonde, her powerful husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist Leslie Sloan for civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy.
The Manhattan US District trial is currently scheduled for March 2026.
The Green and Gold actor currently portrays Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren’s onscreen nephew Spencer Dutton in the eight-episode second season of Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone prequel 1923, which airs Sundays on Paramount+.
When cornered by THR, Brandon called the Lively versus Baldoni legal war ‘a tough situation’ but did not take a stance
‘I just hope everyone remembers what the movie is about and why we made it in the first place. It’s about love. It’s about supporting women in general and helping people through tough times,’ Sklenar said
But two months earlier, the Green and Gold actor famously tagged the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants alum with a heart emoji and reposted a link to her December 22nd New York Times article with the caption: ‘For the love of God read this’
Two days earlier, Blake (pictured August 6) filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department against the Jane the Virgin alum for Sєxual harᴀssment and retaliation on the NYC set of It Ends with Us
Justin immediately filed a libel lawsuit for $250M against the New York Times for biased coverage of Lively’s ‘vicious smear campaign’ and she filed a lawsuit against him and his PR team on December 31 for his ‘plan to undermine her reputation in retaliation’
On January 16, Baldoni filed a second $400M lawsuit against the LA-born blonde, her powerful husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist Leslie Sloan for civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy
Brandon currently portrays Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren’s onscreen nephew Spencer Dutton in the eight-episode second season of Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone prequel 1923, which airs Sundays on Paramount+
Sklenar will also play Henry in Christopher Landon’s mystery thriller Drop, which Universal Pictures will release in US/UK theaters April 11
The Futra Days star’s other upcoming projects include Lionsgate’s The Housemaid directed by Paul Feig (pictured October 8) – coincidentally the same exact filmmaker behind Blake’s next film, Another Simple Favor
Brandon will also play Henry in Christopher Landon’s mystery thriller Drop, which Universal Pictures will release in US/UK theaters April 11.
Sklenar’s other upcoming projects include Lionsgate’s The Housemaid directed by Paul Feig – coincidentally the same exact filmmaker behind Blake’s next film, Another Simple Favor.
