Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively have publicly apologized for their 2012 wedding ceremony held at a South Carolina plantation. The “Deadpool” star expressed their regret and sorrow in a recent interview with Fast Company, acknowledging the painful history associated with the venue.
Reynolds and Lively tied the knot at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, a location infamous for its history of slavery. The plantation features nine slave cabins, historically known as “Slave Street.” At the time of their wedding, the couple viewed the site as a picturesque venue found on Pinterest. However, they have since come to understand the devastating historical significance of the location.
Reynolds candidly discussed this realization, saying, “What we saw at the time was a wedding venue on Pinterest. What we saw after was a place built upon devastating tragedy.”
The couple’s choice of wedding venue came under renewed scrutiny in 2018. This was after Reynolds publicly supported the film “Black Panther,” the first superhero movie with a predominantly Black cast. Critics accused him of hypocrisy, pointing out the stark contrast between his support for the film and his wedding venue’s history.
The wedding industry has also started to address the problematic nature of plantation weddings. In response to growing awareness, platforms like Pinterest and The Knot have banned images of plantation weddings. A Pinterest spokesperson explained, “Weddings should be a symbol of love and unity. Plantations represent none of those things. We are working to limit the distribution of this content and accounts across our platform, and continue to not accept advertisements for them.”
Earlier this year, Reynolds and Lively hinted at their regret over the plantation wedding. However, the Fast Company interview marks the first time they have explicitly apologized. Reynolds admitted, “It’s impossible to reconcile,” emphasizing the couple’s deep remorse for their uninformed decision.
In May, following the tragic death of George Floyd and the ensuing global protests against systemic racism, Reynolds and Lively took to Instagram to announce a $200,000 donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. In their post, they acknowledged their ignorance and complicity in systemic racism, writing, “We’re ashamed that in the past we’ve
