At the TIME100 All-Star Gala held on Thursday evening in New York City, actress Blake Lively, aged 37, became the subject of a contentious public response from journalist Megyn Kelly, aged 54, following Lively’s controversial inclusion on TIME’s Most Influential People list.
Ms. Lively, who attended the event accompanied by her spouse, actor Ryan Reynolds (not listed among the honorees), was publicly criticized by Ms. Kelly during a red carpet interview with DailyMail.com. In her remarks, Ms. Kelly vehemently objected to Ms. Lively’s recognition by the publication and referenced, in strong terms, the actress’s pending legal dispute with Mr. Justin Baldoni, thereby intensifying the ongoing public scrutiny surrounding the matter.
According to statements made by Ms. Megyn Kelly, Ms. Blake Lively — whose appearance on the TIME100 cover elicited significant public backlash — “shouldn’t be here,” indicating strong disapproval of the actress’s presence at the event.
The public confrontation on the red carpet coincided with developments in the ongoing civil litigation between Ms. Lively and Mr. Justin Baldoni. In a newly filed pleading, Mr. Baldoni’s production company and Ms. Jennifer Abel, the publicist for his film It Ends With Us, have alleged that Ms. Stephanie Jones, Mr. Baldoni’s former publicist, engaged in a conspiracy with Ms. Lively to suppress and obscure efforts to disseminate sensitive text messages from Ms. Abel to Ms. Lively.
During the gala, Ms. Kelly escalated her public criticism, accusing Ms. Lively of “bastardizing” the Me Too movement by allegedly weaponizing its underlying principles in furtherance of her sexual harassment lawsuit against Mr. Baldoni — allegations which Mr. Baldoni has formally and unequivocally denied.
Subsequent to the emergence of Ms. Blake Lively’s allegations, Mr. Justin Baldoni initiated legal proceedings by filing a defamation action in the amount of $400 million against Ms. Lively, her publicist, and her spouse, Mr. Ryan Reynolds—all of whom have categorically denied the claims therein. In a parallel action, Mr. Baldoni also filed a $250 million libel suit against The New York Times in relation to its coverage of Ms. Lively’s assertions.
Ms. Megyn Kelly, offering commentary at the TIME100 Gala, characterized Ms. Lively’s inclusion on the list as “a ridiculous joke,” stating unequivocally, “She shouldn’t be here.” She further asserted that Ms. Lively had initiated what she described as a “fake Me Too allegation” against Mr. Baldoni, contending that “virtually every allegation she has made has fallen apart.” Ms. Kelly concluded that it was a “scandal” for Ms. Lively to receive public honors “for trying to ruin a man over absolutely nothing.”
Ms. Kelly’s remarks are informed by her own past experiences, as she has previously disclosed to investigators that she was subjected to sexual harassment by her former employer, Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes. Her allegations, along with those of other prominent women in broadcast journalism, were later adapted into the 2019 feature film Bombshell, in which actress Charlize Theron portrayed Ms. Kelly with the assistance of advanced prosthetic effects.
At the gala, Ms. Kelly, dressed in a red sleeveless gown, remarked sardonically that she hoped to capture a photograph “in the distance” with Ms. Lively and Ms. Meghan Markle, humorously crediting both figures with having provided “so many hours of content” for her media platform. She went on to criticize TIME magazine’s editorial decision, suggesting the cover selection was a calculated publicity effort and declaring it “very wrong” for the publication to lend institutional credibility to an individual mired in public controversy.#newsafro_
