In a revealing legal deposition, actress Blake Lively has made rare public comments addressing the ongoing controversy surrounding her 2012 wedding to husband Ryan Reynolds at a former slave plantation. The testimony emerged as part of her ongoing lawsuit against It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni, with the actress being questioned about the negative press the couple received for their choice of venue.
Controversial Wedding Venue Details
Lively, 38, and Reynolds, 49, exchanged vows on September 9, 2012 at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The location, a former slave plantation, became a significant point of controversy years later during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement. According to legal transcripts reviewed by media outlets, Lively was directly questioned about this during her July 2025 deposition by Baldoni's lawyer Bryan Freedman.
Lively's Candid Admission
When asked about the negative press surrounding their plantation wedding, Lively responded with striking candor. 'I feel like that negative press was deserved,' the mother-of-four stated during the legal proceedings. She elaborated further, acknowledging their error in judgment regarding the venue's historical context.
'It's a mistake we have publicly acknowledged and done a lot of work to reconcile for ourselves and others,' Lively testified. The actress took full responsibility for the decision, noting that her husband shares this accountability. She suggested during questioning that the issue was being raised primarily to discredit her in the current legal battle.
Previous Public Statements and Actions
The couple had previously addressed the controversy in 2020, making a substantial $200,000 donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. In a joint statement at the time, they expressed shame about being 'uninformed about how deeply rooted systemic racism is.' Reynolds later told Fast Company magazine that the wedding venue choice would forever be 'impossible to reconcile' for them.
The Deadpool star elaborated on their thought process, revealing they had selected Boone Hall while searching for wedding venues on Pinterest, only learning about its painful history as a place 'built upon devastating tragedy' after their ceremony. Reynolds described their response to the controversy as involving personal reflection and action rather than withdrawal.
Broader Context of the Legal Battle
These revelations about the wedding controversy emerged within the context of Lively's bitter legal dispute with Baldoni. The actress filed a lawsuit in December 2024 alleging sexual harassment, retaliatory conduct, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Baldoni has denied all allegations and filed his own legal actions, though some claims have been dismissed by the courts.
During the deposition, Lively connected the wedding controversy questioning to what she described as Baldoni's alleged smear campaign against her. 'I don't know what weaponization of the past has been a part of [Justin Baldoni's alleged smear] campaign,' she stated during the legal proceedings.
Personal Reflections and Family Impact
Lively and Reynolds have spoken extensively about how the controversy has affected their family life and parenting approach. They acknowledged their privilege in never having to worry about preparing their children for different treatment under the law or experiencing racial discrimination firsthand.
The couple stated they are committed to raising their children with greater social consciousness than they themselves were taught, emphasizing education about systemic racism and their own complicity in such systems. They described examining their biases and mistakes as leading to 'huge avenues of education.'
In their 2020 statement, they specifically mentioned honoring George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Eric Garner, along with all Black individuals killed without media attention. They expressed determination to break patterns of unconscious harm through their parenting and personal growth.
The deposition transcript provides unprecedented insight into how the Hollywood couple has processed and responded to one of the most controversial aspects of their public life, even as it becomes entangled in their current legal challenges.
