Ryan Reynolds i Blake Lively have received backlash against their September 2012 wedding venue.
Lively and Reynolds were married at Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens in South Carolina. Although not addressed at the time of their nuptials, Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens has been criticized for serving as a wedding venue because of its connection to slavery.
Years after their ceremony, Reynolds and Lively received criticism for getting married at the troubled location. Despite issuing a public apology and making donations to support various causes, the couple have remained under fire for the decision.
Keep scrolling for a full breakdown of Reynolds and Lively’s controversial wedding venue:
Where did Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively get married?
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were married at Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. The location is a historic site that has hosted presidents, politicians and celebrities for numerous events. In addition to hosting weddings, Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens has been featured in movies and television shows, including The Notebook, Days of our lives, Scarlett, North and South and more
Why is the site controversial?
Before becoming a historical landmark, Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens operated as a slave labor camp. The site housed more than 300 enslaved people where they worked and lived. Today, there are nine slave cabins, known as Slave Street, that have been preserved on the site.
Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens has drawn criticism from civil rights groups for marketing the former slave plantation as a romantic wedding venue. Activists have argued that it ignores the site’s history of violence and brutality toward black Americans.
turned on Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens websitethe location states that while the subject of slavery is “difficult” to discuss, it has a “responsibility to present the history of slavery in an accurate and educational manner every day in a way that honors and respects that history and the progress of black Americans.”
When did Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds get backlash for the spot?
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds didn’t face immediate criticism for choosing a controversial venue, but backlash emerged in 2018 when Reynolds praised Black Pantherwhich was the first Marvel movie to feature a black actor as the lead, on social media.
“BELIEVE. THE. HYPE, #WakandaForever,” the deadpool star he tweeted at that time.
Several online users shared their skepticism about Reynolds’ endorsement after pointing out that the actor and Lively were married on a plantation.
“Don’t you think it’s kind of fucked up to be all ‘Wakanda forever’ when you literally got married on the dust of the bones of murdered slaves?” one person answered via X.
Reynolds did not address the comment at the time. Two years later, Reynolds and Lively were again under fire during the Blake Lives Matter movement.
What did Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively say about the site?
After receiving backlash in 2020, Ryan Reynolds addressed his and Blake Lively’s controversial wedding location. The Marvel star claimed they were unaware of the landmark’s dark past.
“It’s impossible to reconcile,” Reynolds said in a 2020 interview with fast company. “What we saw at the time was a Pinterest wedding site. What we saw next was a site built on a devastating tragedy.”
Pinterest subsequently took steps to remove images of plantations as wedding venues from its site.
“Weddings should be a symbol of love and unity. Plantations represent none of those things,” a Pinterest spokesperson said at the time, per The Washington Post. “We are working to limit the distribution of such content and accounts on our platform and continue to not accept ads for them.”
Lively addressed the controversy during his July 2025 deposition amid his legal battle against Justin Baldoniwhich was later revealed when court documents were revealed in January 2026.
“I feel like that negative press was deserved,” Lively acknowledged at the time. “It’s a mistake we’ve publicly acknowledged and we’ve done a lot of work to reconcile with ourselves and others.”
Did Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds apologize?
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds publicly apologized in 2020 for not knowing the story behind the Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens.
“We are ashamed that in the past we have allowed ourselves to be misinformed about how deep-rooted systemic racism is,” the couple wrote on Instagram. “We want to educate ourselves about other people’s experiences and talk to our kids about everything, everything … especially our own complicity.”
They also donated $200,000 to the NAACP’s legal defense fund in May 2020, following the death of George Floyd.
Why was the wedding venue mentioned in Justin Baldoni’s lawsuit?
During Blake Lively’s deposition with Justin Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedmanthe lawyer asked the actress about receiving negative press for her wedding venue.
“It’s true that you dealt with negative press about getting married on a plantation during, sort of, the height of Black Lives Matter; right?” asked Freedman.
Lively responded that she and her husband “deserved” the backlash for their “mistake.”
“I take full responsibility for this decision, as does my husband, but I don’t know what past weaponry has been part of the (Baldoni’s alleged defamation) campaign,” she said, according to court documents.