Blake Lively slammed for sharing mom’s trauma in TIME100 speech: ‘Hilariously desperate PR con job’

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Blake Lively’s big night at the TIME100 Gala turned into a PR disaster as critics accused her of using her mother’s trauma to clean up her own messy image.

The 'Gossip Girl' alum, 37, was named one of TIME’s most influential people and delivered a lengthy speech at the star-studded gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in NYC on Thursday night, April 24.

In a video making the rounds on social media, Lively opened up about her 77-year-old mother’s past as a survivor of assault by a coworker, the Daily Mail reported.

Blake Lively's speech about her mother’s trauma

“I have so much to say about the last two years of my life, but tonight is not the forum,” Blake Lively said at one point — a clear reference to her ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni, whom she’s accused of harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her, allegations that Baldoni has denied.

Instead, she pivoted to speak about “the feeling of being a woman who has a voice today.”

She credited her mother, Willie Elaine McAlpin, as the biggest influence on her life. Both her mother and husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, were by her side at the gala.

“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,” Lively revealed.

She added that her mother’s survival came down to hearing another woman’s story on the radio: “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.”

Lively then leaned into a larger message about womanhood, calling it a private pact of survival.

“We don’t let our daughters know, but one day we break their hearts by letting them in on the secret that we kept from them as they pranced around in princess dresses — that they are not and will likely never be safe at work, at home, in a parking lot, in a medical office, online — in any space they inhabit physically, emotionally, professionally," she continued.

The 'Simple Favor' actress described the “superpower of female triumph” as a “basic human right”, adding, “Never underestimate a woman’s ability to endure pain.”

Lively also made a point to acknowledge supportive men. She thanked "every man, including my sweet husband [Ryan Reynolds], who are kind and good when no one is watching.”

"And to all the communities across the gender, age, political, geographical, and racial spectrum who fight every day just to be safe, I see you," she added.

Blake Lively slammed for 'desperate' speech at TIME100 Gala

Critics on social media weren’t clapping. In fact, many saw the moment as deeply performative, especially given Blake Lively's silence during the promo for 'It Ends With Us' — a movie about domestic violence that she starred in and was directed by Justin Baldoni.

"This woman is so full of s**t. Where was this energy when she was promoting It Ends With Us. She tried to make a movie about domestic violence into a rom-com. As she famously said 'grab your friends, wear your florals,'" one posted on X.

"She is saying that now? When she totally glossed over the message of a movie about DV? Something is up & yes, it's a PR move linked to her legal case," another wrote.

"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?" someone else asked.

"This is the most debasing, over-sold, post-woke pandering, hilariously desperate pr con job i can possibly fathom," a comment read.

"Well using that speech to clean up her public image that is not so good. That is What happens when you live your life in social media. Just be an actress and stop doing nonsense woman!" a user fumed.

Elsewhere in her speech, Lively tried to reflect on what it meant to be honored at a time when "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.”

“How we use that matters. Who and what we stand up for, and what we stay silent about, what we monetize versus what we actually live, matters," she added.

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