Blake Lively says her mother ‘never got justice’ after being assaulted years before she was born
Blake Lively paid tribute to her mother and her journey as a surviour of assault in her speech during the Time100 Gala ceremony.
Actor Blake Lively delivered a powerful speech at the Time100 Gala ceremony. The actor, who was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by the magazine, honored her mother Willie Elain McAlpin in her speech by saluting her lifelong bravery. Blake revealed that her mother was assaulted years ago and ‘never got justice’. (Also read: 'Titan' Blake Lively makes it to Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2025 list even as Baldoni controversy rages on)
What Blake said
During her speech, Blake said, “My mom never got justice from her work acquaintance who attempted to take her life when she was the mother of 3 young kids—years before I was born. She has always credited her beating heart today with the story she heard from another woman in a similar circumstance, speaking on the radio as my mom drove home one day, entirely unaware of the future ahead in which she would call upon this critical moment to save her own life.”
‘She was saved by a woman…’
Blake went on to add, “The woman painfully and graphically shared how she escaped, 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 was saved by a woman whose name she’ll never know. I am alive, and standing with you all here today, being honored, because of a woman whose name I’ll never know. I am here, my mom is here, because that woman not only survived, but she told others how. It’s a silent torch of womanhood that we come to know—a pact that privately we must show others how to survive, literally or spiritually. We don’t let our daughters know, but one day we break their hearts by letting them in on the secret that we kept from them as they pranced around in princess dresses: that they are not, and will likely never be safe, at work, at home, in a parking lot, in a medical office, online, in any space they inhabit. Physically, emotionally, professionally.”
Meanwhile, Blake has been in the limelight ever since the release of her 2024 film It Ends With Us. The actor released a lawsuit in which she sued her co-star Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and smear campaign to destroy her reputation. Justin countered this with his own lawsuit and denied the allegations. The trial date is scheduled to be held in March 2026.
