WATCH | Blake Lively faces backlash for TIME 100 speech; netizens say, it's ‘a slap on the face to real victims’

Amid an ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively was named one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2025. In her speech at the event, the ‘It Ends With Us’ actor shared that her life was “influenced most” by her mother Elaine Lively, who she said was the “survivor of the worst crime someone can commit against a woman”.

However, netizens were unimpressed! Appalled by her speech, social media users said it was “a slap on the face to real victims” and questioned the merit of her award.

Several users questioned the timing of her speech on domestic violence, and asked why she didn't use it at the time of promoting her movie about the issue.

“Are they serious with this?” a netizen asked, saying, “She doesn’t talk about what she’s being ‘honoured’ for, but instead talks about her mother being assaulted. Of course, this was a way to paint herself as a victim without talking about her fake azz claims of sexual harassment.”

The user claimed that Blake Lively was being honoured as a ‘CIVIL RIGHTS TITAN’ because she donated money to the NAACP six years ago after getting bad press for her plantation wedding.

“I don’t believe a damn thing she says and this is a slap in the face to real victims. The ones who don’t get fancy awards for doing absolutely nothing nor get to walk fancy red carpets all dolled up and fawned over in the press,” said the user.

Another user said she'd “never understand how TIME ignored universal outrage over Blake Lively manipulating the legal process, lying & hijacking #MeToo in an act of petty retaliation. Apparently, they still live in a world where PR agents call the shots.”

“Maybe in a bizarre way Blake Lively is one of the top 100 most influential people in the world. She influenced me to understand how NOT to be and how NOT to behave better than almost everyone else in the history of the world. Blake Lively one of the worst people in the world ever,” said another user.

“Blake Lively doing a speech about how her mom was a victim of DV, girl.... where was that speech last year when you were promoting your movie about DV?” asked another user.

Watch Blake Lively's TIME 100 speech here:

“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,” Blake Lively said.

She added that her mother credited a woman whom she heard speaking about a "similar circumstance" on the radio for saving her life.

"The woman painfully and graphically shared how she escaped. And because of hearing that woman speak about her experience instead of shutting down in fear and unfair shame, my mom is alive today. She was saved by a woman whose name she'll never know," said Lively.

Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni

In December 2024, Blake Lively sued Justin Baldoni, alleging sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign. She also accused him of hiring a PR firm to engage in an online smear campaign against her to keep her quiet.

Baldoni denies the allegations and has responded with a $400 million countersuit, accusing Lively of defamation.

A trial date has been scheduled for March 2026.