Under oath, Blake Lively labeled the 2012 Boone Hall plantation wedding “a mistake we have publicly acknowledged,” turning a 13-year-old scandal into fresh ammunition in her dueling legal war with It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni.
Why the Plantation Venue Still Haunts Hollywood’s Golden Couple
On Sept. 9, 2012, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds exchanged vows beneath the moss-draped oaks of Boone Hall, a former slave plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Pinterest boards praised the “antebellum charm”; Twitter, years later, did not. When the couple apologized in August 2020 and donated $200,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, they hoped to close the chapter. Instead, the venue choice resurfaced in a Manhattan conference room on July 30, 2025, as a key plank in Justin Baldoni’s defense strategy.
Deposition Drama: How Baldoni’s Team Flipped the Script
Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, asked Lively whether “negative press” about the plantation wedding bothered her. “I feel like that negative press was deserved,” she replied, according to the transcript. “It’s a mistake we have publicly acknowledged and done a lot of work to reconcile for ourselves and others.” The line of questioning aimed to prove Lively has a history of inviting public scrutiny, undercutting her claim that Baldoni masterminded a 2024 smear campaign when It Ends With Us arrived in theaters.
From Pinterest Dream to Cultural Flashpoint
Boone Hall advertises itself as “America’s most photographed plantation,” but its 738-acre grounds were worked by enslaved people for more than a century. When Reynolds told Fast Company the decision was “a giant f—ing mistake,” he admitted the couple initially saw only “a wedding venue on Pinterest.” The 2020 apology—released at the height of Black Lives Matter protests—turned them into case studies for performative allyship and the limits of celebrity apologies.
The $200K Donation That Couldn’t Erase the Photos
Lively and Reynolds funneled $200,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and vowed to “use our privilege and platform to be an ally.” Critics argued money can’t uproot the visual symbolism of celebrating nuptials where enslaved people once toiled. In her deposition, Lively conceded she doesn’t know whether Baldoni’s team “weaponized” the controversy, but she emphasized, “I take full accountability for that decision, as does my husband.”
Legal Fallout: Why the Venue Matters in the Baldoni War
Baldoni’s now-dismissed countersuit claimed Lively’s own behavior “triggered organic public criticism” and simply “resurfaced old, unflattering content.” By forcing Lively to repeat her mea culpa on the record, his legal team hopes to frame her as a celebrity accustomed to backlash, not a victim of targeted retaliation. The deposition transcript, verified by People, shows Lively refusing to shirk blame—potentially blunting Baldoni’s argument that any reputational harm was self-inflicted.
Hollywood’s Reckoning with Plantation Weddings
Lively and Reynolds are hardly the first A-listers to face heat. Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler, Hillary Duff, and Ryan Phillippe have all hosted events at antebellum sites. Each apology cycle sparks the same debate: can donations erase the optics of romanticizing slave-era architecture? Studios now routinely vet venue histories before green-lighting on-location shoots, and wedding planners report a 60% drop in plantation bookings since 2020, according to Fast Company.
What Lively’s Admission Means for the Case
By calling the backlash “deserved,” Lively neutralized a potential landmine—she can’t be blackmailed by a story she already owns. Legal analysts say the moment could backfire on Baldoni if jurors view the questioning as victim-blaming. Conversely, it bolsters his claim that Lively has survived worse press without alleging conspiracy. Either way, the plantation wedding remains a cultural third rail, and Lively’s sworn concession ensures the controversy stays alive long after the final gavel.
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