Blake Lively Speaks Out After Making TIME’s 100 List amid Justin Baldoni Lawsuits: ‘Not Something I Take Lightly’

Blake Lively is proud to have earned a place on TIME magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world amid her legal battle with Justin Baldoni.

After the actress, 37, was named alongside others like President Donald Trump and Joe Rogan, she shared a heartfelt tribute via social media to thank the publication and send a sweet message to her younger self.

Lively’s place on the 2025 TIME100 list comes amid the legal battle with Baldoni, who directed and costarred with Lively in It Ends with Us, after she sued him late last year. Baldoni, 41, countersued Lively, and case is set to go to trial in March 2026.

“It’s an honor to be acknowledged on the @time 100 list for 2025🤍🙏🤍 ,” Lively captioned an Instagram carousel, while also thanking civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill for writing the essay explaining why she was selected.

“To be written about by the great @sherrilynifill is not something I take lightly,” the Another Simple Favor actress wrote, saying Ifill’s “work has shaped our nation.”

Lively cited Ifill, 62, as a source of inspiration, saying the law professor “has shaped my heart and also my stamina to never stop believing in a future that’s better and safer for everyone.”

“Thank you @time And thank you @sherrilynifill for one of the most surreal and meaningful moments of my life in this honor. My 10 year old self is pretty blown away right now. 🎈🥹✨,” the Gossip Girl alum concluded.

Lively’s post included a black-and-white photo of Lively on the TIME100 cover and a screenshot of the essay Ifill wrote about her.

“I don’t know the Blake Lively of the red carpet. Or the Met Gala,” Ifill wrote for TIME. “I never watched Gossip Girl. The Blake Lively I know is a philanthropist and a student of our country’s most intractable problems.”

Ifill also wrote that Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, was just as devoted to social change, recalling when the couple “reached out in 2019 to make a contribution to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.”

“I had been getting a few of these calls, as our work fighting against voter suppression and police brutality was receiving national attention,” Ifill continued. “I’m always curious about the kind of research famous people do before they make that cold call to offer their support. The ones I have remained in relationship with are those who, like Blake, really did their homework.”

Ifill referred to the Age of Adeline actress as someone who is “sincere,” sharing a memory of when Lively expressed frustration that so much of our nation’s history was not part of the instruction she had received as a student.”