Blake Lively honours her mother at Time100 speech, thanks ‘sweet’ husband Ryan Reynolds for standing by her

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Despite a year marred by legal trouble and controversies surrounding her films, Blake Lively was named one of the most influential people by Time Magazine. Taking centre stage during the TIME100 Gala, accompanied by her husband Ryan Reynolds, Lively opened up about her family trauma for the first time. Speaking in a room full of the world’s most influential people, she didn’t talk about fame or movies, but honoured her mother, Willie Elain McAlpin, by sharing a powerful yet heartbreaking story about abuse and injustice. This comes amid her own legal battle with her It Ends with Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni, where she accused him of sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign against her.

Blake Lively opens up about abuse in Time100 speech

The Gossip Girl alum revealed that before she was even born, her mom survived a brutal attack by one of her colleagues. Justice was never served, and her mother, who had three young kids at the time, carried the trauma and shame for years, something she never should’ve had to carry alone. During the speech, she signalled to her mother, who was present at the gala and called her “an eternal optimist” who always sends her messages, full of “hoopin’ and hollerin”

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Dedicating her speech to all the female survivors, Lively shared, “My mom never got justice from her work acquaintance who attempted to take her life when she was the mother of three young kids, years before I was born.” She added that her mother is alive today because of a stranger, a woman she heard on the radio one day while driving home. The woman shared a similar story of abuse, describing it “painfully and graphically,” and because of that, her mother gathered the courage to not shut down in fear. “She was saved by a woman whose name she’ll never know. I am alive and standing with you all here today, being honoured, because of a woman whose name I’ll never know. I am here, my mom is here, because that woman not only survived, but she told others how,” Lively added.

Blake Lively honored her mother, Willie Elain McAlpin, who survived an attack on her life by a work acquaintance and also briefly alluded to her legal battle with Justin Baldoni at the TIME100 Gala. pic.twitter.com/mizx6m2NvQ

— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) April 25, 2025

Also read: Taylor Swift, Hugh Jackman could be subpoenaed in Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni legal feud; Here’s why

Calling it a ‘silent torch of womanhood,’ Lively said there’s a point in life when daughters realise they’re not always safe, “not at work, not at home, not in a parking lot, not even in a doctor’s office.” That’s a hard truth, but it’s one many women know too well. Then came her most unforgettable line, one that echoed in the room, “Never underestimate a woman’s ability to endure pain.”

A special shoutout to Ryan Reynolds

During the speech, Lively also nodded to what she’s personally been through in recent years, though she didn’t go into detail. She ended her speech by thanking all men, including her “sweet” husband Ryan Reynolds “who are kind and good when no one is watching.”

In December 2024, Blake Lively filed a lawsuit against her co-star Justin Baldoni, accusing him and his team of harassment, retaliation and creating a hostile work environment on the set, which included entering her vanity van without permission while she was breastfeeding her child and also injecting intimate scenes into the scenes without approval. Baldoni fired back with a lawsuit of his own, accusing Blake and even her husband, Ryan Reynolds and their publicist of trying to ruin his career with lies. Lively didn’t use this gala to break it all down, but she did say, “I have so much to say about the last two years of my life, but tonight is not the forum.”

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Blake Lively honours her mother at Time100 speech, thanks ‘sweet’ husband Ryan Reynolds for standing by her

Blake Lively opens up about abuse in Time100 speech

A special shoutout to Ryan Reynolds

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