TIME released its list of 100 Most Influential People of 2025 today… and there was a surprise on the list, at least to me: Blake Lively. 

 

The last 8 or 9 months or so have been the lowest of Blake’s career. Since the It Ends With Us press tour and in the months that have followed, after she dropped her complaint against Justin Baldoni and he countered, Blake is one of the internet’s favourite targets. Which is a dramatic turn from what her reputation would have been a year ago. A year ago no one would describe being in Blake’s orbit as toxic. Now? Toxic, no one wants to touch her. 

 

And yet here she is, named in TIME’s list, and in the “Titan” category too. That explains the surprise of it, from an editorial point of view. It’s not like the magazine wouldn’t have had options… and yet they went with Blake. At a time when so many conspiracy theories and so much misinformation has been all over social media in general about Blake and her legal battle with Justin Baldoni, this I’m sure will only add to the discourse. 

The editors of TIME had to know this. By now, after so many years of running this feature, they’re aware of the public interest in those who are included – so are they intentionally provoking? Is it controversial for publicity? Those who are anti-Blake would probably be more inclined to buy into that theory. 

 

Another possibility is, of course, that they actually do think she belongs there, and this is where the supporting blurb comes in. Every person on the TIME 100 is endorsed by another notable. In Blake’s case, her endorsement comes from Sherrilyn Ifill, civil rights lawyer, professor at Howard University, and former President and Director-Counsel of the NCAAP Legal Defense Fund. This is what she wrote about Blake: 

“I don’t know the Blake Lively of the red carpet. Or the Met Gala. I never watched Gossip Girl. 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. I had been getting a few of these calls, as our work fighting against voter suppression and police brutality was receiving national attention. 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. I 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. Her 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.”

 

Sherrilyn Ifill is a serious person. Not the kind of person who operates in celebrity back-scratches. The contribution that she’s referring to was made by Blake and Ryan Reynolds in May 2020, shortly after George Floyd’s murder. And it was accompanied by this Instagram post, where Sherrilyn is namechecked on the fourth slide: 

So this is not a new relationship. As Sherrilyn writes, they’ve been “in relationship” since 2019. In the discourse that will follow – and may already be ongoing – in reaction to Blake’s inclusion in the TIME 100, how much will Sherrilyn’s opinion be weighted…or challenged… or disregarded… or even conspiracy-ed? And how much of that discourse will be informed, with context and background? 

 

Meanwhile, Blake was in London last night alongside the cast of Another Simple Favor for a screening of the film. Just as it’s been throughout the promotional period of the movie there have been no interview opportunities.

Another Simple Favor’s release is just a few days before the Met Gala, which Sherrilyn references in her blurb. This was kind of an irritant to me, LOL, because it makes me crazy that some people consider Blake to be synonymous with that event almost in the same way Rihanna is. Seriously?! 

 

Anyway, Blake skipped last year and the way things have been going lately, I wonder if she might skip again. Maybe Anna Wintour doesn’t want that smoke. Although now that she’s on the TIME list, maybe she does.

We’re talking about this today over on our Substack, The Squawk. (App link here)