Samuel L. Jackson’s 2008 Wedding Gift for Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson Has Fans Buzzing

Samuel L. Jackson’s wedding gift for Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson still has fans buzzing long after they split.

“My wedding gift to them was a beehive,” Jackson, 74, told Vulture in an interview published on Thursday, July 20. “Scarlett was always talking about nature.”

Jackson — who’s starred alongside Johansson, 38, in several movies, including 2008’s The Spirit and 2012’s The Avengers — recalled having his assistant “go out and buy 10 pounds of bees” before the 2008 nuptials.

“I bought them bee suits and the whole thing,” Jackson, who appeared alongside Reynolds, 46, in 2021’s Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, recalled. “They kept bees for a while. They got honey for a couple of years while they were married.”

Unfortunately, the unique present didn’t last long. “One day the bees abandoned the hive or they abandoned the queen or some s—t,” Jackson said.

Reynolds and Johansson started dating in 2007 and announced their engagement the following May. They tied the knot in September 2008 at a remote wilderness retreat.

Us Weekly broke the news in December 2010 that Reynolds and Johansson split. The estranged couple released a statement that month, saying, “After long and careful consideration on both our parts, we’ve decided to end our marriage. We entered our relationship with love and it’s with love and kindness we leave it. While privacy isn’t expected, it’s certainly appreciated.”

When their divorce was finalized in summer 2011, Reynolds had already moved on with Blake Lively and Johansson was dating Sean Penn. While Johansson split from Penn, 62, in June 2011, Reynolds married Lively, 35, in 2012.

The Green Lantern costars have since welcomed four children. Lively gave birth to her and Reynolds’ three daughters, James, Inez and Betty, in 2014, 2016 and 2019, respectively. The couple confirmed in February that they had quietly welcomed baby No. 4. The little one’s name and exact birthdate have not been revealed.

Johansson, meanwhile, got married a second time in October 2014 to Romain Dauriac, just months after the pair welcomed their daughter, Rose, in August of that year. Us confirmed in January 2017 that Johansson and Dauriac, 41, were getting divorced.

The Black Widow star moved on with Colin Jost, whom she wed in October 2020. The couple’s son, Cosmo, was born in August 2021.

Earlier this year, Johansson made a rare comment about her first husband during an April appearance on the “Goop” podcast, calling Reynolds “a good guy.”