- Blake Lively said mum’s life was nearly taken
- Lively honors her mum in acceptance speech at Time100 Gala
- Her mum never got justice from her work acquaintance
Blake Lively has revealed that her mother, Willie Elain McAlpin, was assaulted by a work acquaintance years before Lively was born.
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Currently in an ongoing legal battle after accusing her Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni of sexual assault, Lively accepted her honoree nomination at the Time100 Gala. She was recognized by Time magazine as one of the most influential people of the year.
During her acceptance speech Lively said she has “so much to say about the last two years of my life” alluding to her legal trial against Baldoni, adding “but tonight is not the forum”.
Instead, she took the opportunity to honor her mum, who once survived a life-threatening attack.
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“What I will speak to separately is the feeling of being a woman who has a voice today,” Lively said. “My life was influenced most by my mother sitting here tonight, Willie Elain McAlpin.”
Lively said that at her mother’s “urging and unwavering bravery, she wanted me to share with you that she is a survivor of the worst crimes someone can commit against a woman”.
Blake Lively said her mum never got justice
The former Gossip Girl and wife of actor Ryan Reynolds, told the gala audience that McAlpin “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.”
Lively shared that her mother was saved from the encounter after hearing an assault survivor sharing her own story on the radio.
“The woman painfully and graphically shared how she escaped, and because of hearing that woman speak to her experience instead of shutting down in fear and unfair shame, my mom is alive today,” said Lively.
The actress added, “She was saved by a woman whose name she’ll never know. I am alive, and standing with you all here today, being honored, 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.”
Silent torch of womanhood
The A Simple Favour star described her mum’s experience as a “silent torch of womanhood that we come to know – a pact that privately we must show others how to survive, literally or spiritually.”
She also thanked her “sweet husband” Reynolds, who was sitting next to McAlpin at the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, for being so “kind and good when no one is watching.”
Lively sued Baldoni in December 2024, alleging sexual harassment during filming and a subsequent smear campaign. Baldoni, who denies the claims, countersued on 16 January, accusing Lively and Reynolds of trying to destroy his career and is seeking at least $400 million in damages.The case is set to go to trial on 9 March 2026.
