Blake Lively has been named to TIME magazine’s 2025 list of the 100 most influential people, a recognition that arrives as the actress remains embroiled in a legal dispute with It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni. The 37-year-old star celebrated the honor with a heartfelt Instagram post, reflecting on the achievement and thanking civil rights attorney Sherrilyn Ifill for penning her TIME100 tribute.
“It’s an honor to be acknowledged on the @time 100 list for 2025,” Lively wrote alongside a carousel of images, including the magazine’s cover. She expressed deep gratitude toward Ifill, a renowned lawyer and former president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, who highlighted Lively’s philanthropic work rather than her Hollywood fame.
“To be written about by the great @sherrilynifill is not something I take lightly,” Lively shared. “Her work has shaped our nation.” The actress credited Ifill with inspiring her activism, saying the attorney “has shaped my heart and also my stamina to never stop believing in a future that’s better and safer for everyone.”
In her essay, Ifill emphasized that she knew Lively not as a red-carpet icon but as a dedicated advocate. “The Blake Lively I know is a philanthropist and a student of our country’s most intractable problems,” she wrote, recalling how Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds reached out in 2019 to support the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s efforts against voter suppression and police brutality.
Ifill praised Lively’s sincerity, noting her frustration with gaps in U.S. history education and her commitment to being “fully informed and prepared.” This, Ifill said, makes Lively “a serious person” and “a risk taker” devoted to progress. “She’s committed to moving this country forward. For her children. And for mine,” Ifill concluded.
The recognition comes as Lively and Baldoni, 41, prepare for a March 2026 trial over their legal dispute, which began when Lively sued him last year, prompting a countersuit. Despite the ongoing case, Lively’s focus remains on gratitude.
“My 10-year-old self is pretty blown away right now,” she wrote, capping her post with a mix of emotion and humility. The tribute underscores how Lively has balanced her Hollywood career with activism—earning a place among global changemakers
