What Happened to Blake Lively’s Mom? Inside the Details the Actor Shared

For the last several months, Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and her It Ends With Us star and director Justin Baldoni have been the subject of endless headlines due to the dual lawsuits filed against each other involving harassment, mistreatment, and more. During a recent public appearance, Blake seemingly likened her mother's past workplace issues to her own.

Blake and Justin starred in the 2024 romantic drama, It Ends With Us, a film which was plagued with behind-the-scenes stories of intense drama and dislike between the two while filming.

During her acceptance speech as an honoree at the 2025 TIME 100 gala, Blake used her speech as an opportunity to discuss her mother’s past “attack” at the workplace, according to Entertainment Weekly.

"I have so much to say about the last two years of my life, but tonight is not the forum," she began. “What I will speak to separately is the feeling of being a woman who has a voice today."

"Ever urging in her unwavering bravery, she wanted me to share that she is a survivor of the worst crime that someone can commit against a woman,” Blake said of her mother, Elaine Lively. "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."

"She has always credited her beating heart today with stories she heard from another woman in a similar circumstance, speaking on the radio … And because of hearing that woman speak to her experience instead of shutting down in fear and unfair shame, my mom is alive today," she continued. "She was saved by a woman whose name she'll never know. I'm alive and standing here with you all today, being honored, because of a woman whose name I'll never know.”

As of May 2025, both lawsuits are still moving forward with each party committed to seeing the claims resolved until the very end. Blake initially filed a lawsuit against Justin in December 2024 alleging harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign. In response, Justin filed a $40 million lawsuit against Blake, Ryan, and their publicist alleging civil extortion and defamation among other claims.

In her first television interview since filing the lawsuit, Blake shared with Seth Meyers how the last few months have been, referring to the time period as an "intense year," that has "been full of the highest highs and the lowest lows of my life," she said.

"And I see so many women around, afraid to speak — especially right now — afraid to share their experiences. And fear is by design. It's what keeps us silent. But I also acknowledge that many people don't have the opportunity to speak. So I do feel fortunate that I've been able to," Blake continued.

"It's the women who have had the ability to use their voice that's kept me strong and helped me in my belief and my fight for the world to be safer for women and girls," she added.