Actress Blake Lively recognized in Time’s top 100 influential individuals for receiving a $1 million donation from a celebrity lawyer who praises her as a ‘focused individual’.

Blake Lively got a rare piece of good news amid her lawsuits with Justin Baldoni and rumors of a feud with her co-star Anna Kendrick.

Amid the storm of controversy that has been gathering around her for months, Lively, 37, has been bequeathed a coveted honor.

The actress from Gossip Girl was recently honored by Time as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2025. She was recognized in the Titans section alongside notable figures like Serena Williams, Mark Zuckerberg, and Joe Rogan.

Within the pages of the magazine, she was praised by Sherrilyn Ifill, who was leading the NAACP Legal Defense Fund when the actress and her husband generously donated $1 million to the organization back in 2019.

This philanthropic contribution followed their controversial decision to wed on a former slave plantation in South Carolina seven years prior. The choice to exchange vows at this historical site has faced significant backlash, leading Ryan Reynolds to issue a subsequent apology.

In her testimonial, Ifill hailed Lively as a ‘philanthropist’ and a ‘serious person’ who was ‘committed to move this country forward.’

Blake Lively received a rare piece of good news amid her spiraling legal battle with Justin Baldoni and rumors of a feud with her co-star Anna Kendrick

‘I don’t know the Blake Lively of the red carpet. Or the Met Gala. I never watched Gossip Girl,’ wrote Ifill. ‘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, who served as president and director-counsel of the organization from 2012 to 2022, wrote: ‘I had been getting a few of these calls, as our work fighting against voter suppression and police brutality was receiving national attention.’

She noted: ‘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 wrote that she ‘admired immediately her curiosity, and her sincere work to understand the conditions that shape this country. I remember an early conversation in which she expressed frustration that so much of our nation’s history was not part of the instruction she had received as a student.’

She added that Lively’s ‘commitment to filling those gaps—and becoming the most fully informed and prepared citizen – is what I appreciate most about her. Blake is a serious person. She’s a risk taker. And she’s committed to moving this country forward. For her children. And for mine.’

Lively has been included in the Titans section of honorees among such names as Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles.

Netflix chief Ted Sarandos, fashion designer Miuccia Prada, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt and Palantir CEO Alex Karp were in the same section. 

The honor comes after Lively was accused of trying wrestle control of the It Ends With Us film from Justin Baldoni by storyboard artist, Talia Spencer, on Sunday’s edition of 60 Minutes Australia.

She received a glowing tribute in the magazine from Sherrilyn Ifill, who was head of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund when Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds (left) donated $1 million to it 

In a segment exploring the ugly legal battle between Lively and and Baldoni, 41, Spencer fiercely defended the director, who Lively accused of sexual harassment and launching a retaliatory smear campaign against her in December.

While speaking about her former boss, Spencer described Baldoni, who has denied all of Lively’s allegations and filed a defamation countersuit against her, as ‘one of the few directors I’ve worked for that was kind and respectful.’ 

‘I feel like maybe Blake smelled his kindness, mistook it for weakness and tried to take advantage and take power,’ she speculated. 

When asked directly if she believed Lively attempted to seize control of the film,  Spencer answered: ‘I think she tried to, yes.’

As for whether Lively was successful in obtaining that power, the It Ends With Us crew member stated she feels ‘there was a massive compromise in terms of Justin’s original vision for the film.’

Spencer also recalled thinking that Baldoni cared ‘a lot about the vision’ of the film and was ‘not in it for fame.’ 

She went on to say that she finds it ‘very hard to believe the allegations against him, considering his mission statement about the film. And him, genuinely, pitching that he was doing this film to help young women.’

‘I just find it hard to believe the allegations, to be honest,’ she reiterated.

In a segment exploring the ugly legal battle between the Gossip Girl actress, 37, and and Baldoni, 41, Spencer fiercely defended the director, who Lively accused of sexual harassment and launching a retaliatory smear campaign against her in December

In response to whether she ever felt uncomfortable during any of her interactions with Baldoni, Spencer insisted ‘not at all.’

‘I felt more comfortable being around Justin than a lot of film directors, in my experience,’ she explained.

Since 2019, Spencer has worked in the art departments of 10 TV shows and movies.

DailyMail.com has reached out to both Lively and Baldoni’s respective reps, but have not heard back.

Previously, Baldoni told People that ‘there wasn’t a part of this production that [Lively] didn’t touch and have influence on.’

‘Everything she put her hands on and her mind to, she made better,’ he praised in an interview, released months before she filed her lawsuit.

While speaking about her former boss, Spencer described Baldoni, who has denied all of Lively’s allegations and filed a defamation countersuit against her, as ‘one of the few directors I’ve worked for that was kind and respectful’

In January, Lively’s legal team furiously accused Baldoni of using the ‘abuser playbook’ in his $400 million lawsuit against her and Reynolds.

Lively and Reynolds were sued, earlier this year, for defamation by Baldoni and his publicists, who say the actress cooked up a scheme to kill their careers and discredit them by making false accusations of sexual harassment.

Court papers obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com accuse Lively and Reynolds of using their combined star power to hijack their film, It Ends With Us, which Baldoni co-starred in and directed.

The defamation suit came after Lively sued Baldoni for sexually harassment and creating a toxic work environment on the set of the film. He has staunchly denied the allegations.

In response to Baldoni’s lawsuit, Lively’s attorneys issued a fiery statement to DailyMail.com, declaring: ‘This latest lawsuit from Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its associates is another chapter in the abuser playbook.’

They added: ‘This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim. This is what experts call DARVO. Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender.’

‘I feel like maybe Blake smelled his kindness, mistook it for weakness and tried to take advantage and take power,’ she speculated

The statement alleged Baldoni’s production company Wayfarer Studios ‘opted to use the resources of its billionaire co-founder to issue media statements, launch meritless lawsuits, and threaten litigation to overwhelm the public’s ability to understand that what they are doing is retaliation against sexual harassment allegations.’

Lively’s attorneys added: ‘They are trying to shift the narrative to Ms. Lively by falsely claiming that she seized creative control and alienated the cast from Mr. Baldoni. The evidence will show that the cast and others had their own negative experiences with Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer.

‘The evidence will also show that Sony asked Ms. Lively to oversee Sony’s cut of the film, which they then selected for distribution and was a resounding success.’

They continued: ‘Their response to sexual harassment allegations: she wanted it, it’s her fault. Their justification for why this happened to her: look what she was wearing.’

The statement concluded: ‘In short, while the victim focuses on the abuse, the abuser focuses on the victim. The strategy of attacking the woman is desperate, it does not refute the evidence in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and it will fail.”

When asked directly if she believed Lively (pictured last year) attempted to seize control of the film, Spencer answered: ‘I think she tried to, yes’

She also admitted it is ‘very hard to believe the allegations against him’ (Lively and Baldoni seen on set in January 2024)

In Baldoni’s lawsuit, he accused Lively of muscling in on production, despite allegedly failing to read the book until filming was well under way.

The hijack allegedly went as far as relegating Baldoni and his family to the basement after arriving on the red carpet for the movie’s premiere on August 6, 2024, because ‘Lively demanded he not attend’.

The suit said: ‘Security personnel, acting as though there was a risk of “escape,” escorted Baldoni’s group to the basement of the building.

‘There, they were confined to a makeshift holding area surrounded by concession stand stock, with only foldout tables and chairs arranged in a square.’

In addition to not reading the book before filming started, the lawsuit claims she initially pushed back on having to read it at all.

Previously, Baldoni told People that ‘there wasn’t a part of this production that [Lively] didn’t touch and have influence on’ (seen in February 2025) 

‘Everything she put her hands on and her mind to, she made better,’ he praised in an interview, released months before she filed her lawsuit; pictured in August 2024

And despite the novel’s dark subject matter, Lively allegedly failed to take it seriously during the promotional campaign – even naming a cocktail after the abusive lead male character.

This, the filing says, is evidence of the ‘insensitivity’ that sparked an ‘organic backlash to the actress last summer.

Lively’s sexual harassment claims first appeared in December in a New York Times story that included texts sent between his publicists that they now say were cherrypicked and stripped of context to make it appear Baldoni was orchestrating a ‘smear campaign’ against the actress.

But the actor says it was Lively who was the real orchestrator of a negative publicity campaign – alleging that she had been working with her own publicist Leslie Sloane and the New York Times for months before the article was published.

Baldoni is already suing the outlet for $250 million for libel and defamation, saying in his lawsuit that the story relied on Lively’s ‘self-serving narrative.’