Where did Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds get married? Zack Peter says their 2019 donation was an "attempt to clean up" for her plantation wedding

Podcaster Zack Peter discussed Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' 2019 donation to NAACP in his latest X video dated April 18, 2025. In this video, Peter also claimed that the donation was an "attempt to clean up" for their plantation wedding.

"Now Blake Lively is reacting to being named one of TIME’s Most Influential "Titans"fof 2025, calling it a "profound” decision. Referenced is her 2019 donation to the NAACP; left out is that the donation was made after she & Ryan Reynolds faces heat for their 2012 wedding", he captioned his post.

In the aforementioned video, Zack Peter discussed in detail why Lively was “nominated” one of the Titans of 2025.

He referred to the explanation shared by Sherrilyn Ifill for choosing Lively which was later shared by the actor herself, on April 17, 2025, on her Instagram.

“I don't know the Blake Lively of the red carpet. Or the Met Gala. I never watched Gossip Girl. The Blake Lively I know is a philanthropist and a student of our country's most intractable problems. She and her husband Ryan Reynolds reached out in 2019 to make a contribution to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund”, Ifill said in her explanation.

According to an article on NBC News dated August 5, 2020, on Sept. 9, 2012, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds tied the knot at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

This particular plantation featured nine slave cabins, and was popularly known as "Slave Street." As such, Lively and Reynolds received severe criticism for their choice of wedding location.

As per the aforementioned article, the backlash renewed in 2018 after Reynolds tweeted in support of Marvel’s Black Panther, the first superhero movie to feature a majority Black cast.

According to Zack Peter, the couple made their 2019 NAACP donation not “out of kindness of their heart” but as a part of their public apology in an "attempt to clean up" after their plantation wedding.

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Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds respond to the criticism for their plantation wedding

"Charles James: Beyond Fashion" Costume Institute Gala - Candids - Source: Getty

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds had publicly apologized for holding their wedding at Boone Hall Plantation in 2012. However, according to NBC News article, dated August 5, 2020, their first formal apology appeared on June 1, 2020, through a heartfelt Instagram post shared via Blake Lively’s official account.

The couple acknowledged their past ignorance and expressed remorse, stating:

"We’re ashamed that in the past we’ve allowed ourselves to be uninformed about how deeply rooted systemic racism is".

As per the report, their formal apology was published after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, which led to massive protests across U.S.

Shortly after Floyd’s death, Lively and Reynolds donated $200,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

In their formal Instagram apology-post, the couple emphasized their desire to take responsibility of their actions.

"We've never had to worry about preparing our kids for different rules of law or what might happen if we're pulled over in the car. We don't know what it's like to experience that life day in and day out. We can't imagine feeling that kind of fear and anger", they wrote.

They further added the need for actively engaging in anti-racist education.

"We want to educate ourselves about other people's experiences and talk to our kids about everything, all of it ... especially our own complicity," they added.

At present, Ryan Reynolds's is busy filming a movie in Montreal called Mayday and Blake Lively is busy with the promotional events of her latest release Another Simple Favour, launching globally on Prime Video on May 1, 2025.