Blake Lively addressed the backlash over her 2012 wedding venue during a legal deposition, acknowledging the controversy as a “deserved” mistake and detailing her ongoing efforts toward reconciliation.
During her July 2025 deposition for her lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively addressed the controversy surrounding her 2012 wedding to Ryan Reynolds at Boone Hall Plantation in South Carolina. The venue, which was also the filming location for The Notebook, faced significant backlash due to its historical ties to slavery.
Lively, 38, acknowledged the criticism as justified, stating, “I feel like that negative press was deserved. It’s a mistake we have publicly acknowledged and done a lot of work to reconcile for ourselves and others.” Her remarks came in response to questions from Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, who referenced the backlash during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Controversy and Public Apology
Boone Hall Plantation, where Lively and Reynolds married, is a site with a deeply troubling history. The couple later publicly apologized for their oversight in choosing the venue. Reynolds, in a 2020 interview with Fast Company, expressed regret, saying, “It’s something we’ll always be deeply and unreservedly sorry for. It’s impossible to reconcile.”
The couple admitted they had not researched the venue’s history before booking it, a decision they now recognize as a significant misstep. Reynolds described the realization as a turning point, noting, “What we saw after [the wedding] was a place built upon devastating tragedy.”
Ongoing Efforts Toward Reconciliation
Since the controversy, Lively and Reynolds have taken steps to support diverse initiatives. In 2019, they donated $2 million to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. They followed this with an additional $200,000 donation in 2020. Reynolds has also prioritized diverse hiring at his production company, Maximum Effort.
“Representation and diversity need to be completely immersive,” Reynolds told Fast Company. “It needs to be embedded at the root of storytelling, and that’s in both marketing and Hollywood. When you add perspective and insight that isn’t your own, you grow — and you grow your company too.”
Personal Growth and Family Life
Lively and Reynolds, who began dating in 2011, have since welcomed four children: James, 11, Inez, 9, Betty, 6, and Olin, 2. The couple’s journey from controversy to advocacy highlights their commitment to learning from past mistakes and using their platform for positive change.
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