Blake Lively hints at Justin Baldoni legal woes in speech dedicated to mother
By Hannah Roberts, PA Entertainment Reporter
Hollywood actress Blake Lively has hinted at the ongoing legal battle with her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni in a public speech dedicated to her mother.
Gossip Girl star Lively, 37, who sought unspecified damages when she sued Baldoni in late December for alleged sexual harassment and retaliation, spoke during the 2025 Time100 summit and gala held in New York on Thursday.
The actress, who has been honoured as one of the 100 most influential people of 2025, said she has “so much to say about the last two years of my life”, adding “tonight is not the forum”.
Baldoni, who denies Lively’s allegations, countersued the actress and her husband, Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds, for defamation and extortion in January.
It Ends With Us, adapted from the best-selling novel by Colleen Hoover, was directed by Baldoni, 41, who also stars in the movie as a love interest of Lively’s character, Lily Bloom.
Lively’s role in the movie was announced in 2023 and the film was released to cinemas in August 2024.
“Thank you so much for having me here tonight, to be an honoree amongst you all as well as those who’ve come before is surreal and deeply significant,” Lively said.
“In a time where the most valuable currency seems to be anger, it feels like an act of defiance to commune and celebrate all the good that is alive in the world, and the many here tonight who either challenge the systems and/or who show us that magic exists on earth in their gifts, talents, bravery, art and life.
“So, tonight, I applaud each of you. It’s an interesting thing to be called influential. It’s most definitely an honour, but what does influence mean?
“By definition it’s: the capacity to have an effect on the character, development or behaviour of someone or something.
“To have an effect. That’s not only an honour, it’s a significant responsibility.
“How we use that matters. Who and what we stand up for, and what we stay silent about, what we monetise versus what we actually live, matters.
“I have so much to say about the last two years of my life, but tonight is not the forum.”
The actress then paid tribute to her mother, Willie Elain McAlpin, and said she wanted her to share that she is a “survivor of the worst crimes someone can commit against a woman”.
Lively then quoted from another Time 100 honoree, Gisele Pelicot, and said: “It’s not for us to have shame, it’s for them.”
Ms Pelicot, 72, a retired logistics manager, was drugged by her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, to render her unconscious and then raped by him and dozens of other men, between 2011 and 2020.
She waived her right to anonymity as a survivor and said that shame should fall on her abusers, not her.
In Lively’s legal complaint, she accused Baldoni and the studio behind It Ends With Us of embarking on a “multi-tiered plan” to damage her reputation following a meeting in which she and her husband Reynolds addressed “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behaviour” by Baldoni and a producer on the movie.
Lively appeared at the event alongside her husband Reynolds, whom she shares four children with.
She has starred in films including The Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants, The Age Of Adaline and A Simple Favour, and played Serena van der Woodsen in the hit teen drama series Gossip Girl.