Blake Lively is criticised for impersonating a black woman in SNL skit three years before slave plantation wedding to Ryan Reynolds – after backlash for joking about blackface
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By KIRSTEN MURRAY FOR MAILONLINE
Blake Lively has been criticised by fans after impersonating a black woman in a Saturday Night Live skit that aired three years before her controversial plantation wedding to Ryan Reynolds.
The actress, 37, and her husband Ryan Reynolds are currently embroiled in a lawsuit with her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni after accusing him of sexual harassment as well as a smear campaign. The director then counter-sued the A-List couple, accusing them of defamation.
All of the parties dispute the allegations against them, but Blake has found herself under intense scrutiny for everything from ‘mean girl’ behaviour to feuds with other co-stars and her wedding to Ryan Reynolds on a former slave plantation in South Carolina – a move that has repeatedly attracted fierce criticism and for which Reynolds subsequently apologised.
Blake has also face criticism by admitting she would wear a ‘Scary Spice ‘fro’ and cover herself in bronzer while ‘stalking’ boys as a teenager, saying her disguise woulc make them ‘think I was a Black girl’.
Now it has emerged that she was embroiled in another incidence of impersonating a black woman when she took part in a Saturday Night Live sketch in 2009, entitled ‘Virginiaca shops for a beaded skirt’.
The cilp, which was recently shared on X, reveals how Blake played Virginiaca’s daughter as the pair clashed with a salesperson who insisted Blake’s character ‘cannot afford’ a Prada skirt.
Using African American Vernacular English (AAVE) Blake – who was wearing a dark wig that appeared to resemble straightened afro hair – then shouted: ‘You need to drop that attitude, I’m in no kind mood for that. I need my mama. Mama, where you is girl?’
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Blake Lively has been criticised for impersonating a black woman in a SNL skit from 15 years ago in latest blow after plantation wedding row and joking about blackface
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The actress, 37, and her husband Ryan Reynolds are currently embroiled in a lawsuit with her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni after accusing him of sexual harassment
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Her mother, played by actor Kenan Thompson, then emerged from the changing room and they got into a debate with the shop assistant, with Blake continuing in the same pseduo accent: ‘This my mom. You better stop tryna get up in her goody snack.’
She then proceeded to perform a twerk-like dance move while Virginiaca cheered her on, saying: ‘Booty go round and round.’
Blake’s character told the assistant: ‘You lucky my papa ain’t up in here.’
Resharing the clip one fan took to Twitter to say: ‘How did I miss Blake Lively playing a ratchet black woman on SNL?’
Taking to the comments others were left shocked as they penned: ‘Every day I like her less and less and less’;
‘Not funny at all’; ‘hard to watch’; ‘I couldn’t even get to the 1 minute mark, it was so cringe.’
‘No laughs. Did you hear laughs? ‘Blake thought she was so funny. That wasn’t the least bit funny.’
Blake and Ryan have previously come under fire for marrying at a plantation in South Carolina, as another asked: ‘Was this before or after being married at a plantation?’
Others over on TikTok wrote: ‘The second hand embarrassment… I’m surprised we didn’t cancel her for this’;
‘I’ve never heard the live audience so silent on this show’; ‘This was embarrassing to watch.’
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In the sketch titled ‘Virginiaca shops for a beaded skirt’, Blake plays Virginiaca’s daughter as the pair clash salesperson after he ensures Blake’s character she ‘cannot afford’ a Prada skirt
Her mother, played by Kenan Thompson, then emerges from the changing room as the pair get into a debate with the shop assistance
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Taking to the comments others were left shocked as they penned: ‘Every day I like her less and less and less’
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Blake and Ryan have previously come under fire for marrying at a plantation in South Carolina , as another asked: ‘Was this before or after being married at a plantation?’
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Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ plantation wedding scandal resurfaces amid legal war
The Hollywood couple famously tied the knot on September 9, 2012 during an intimate ceremony attended by several celebrity pals at Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens in South Carolina.
The stunning backdrop to the couple’s nuptials has a dark history of slavery, with ‘preserved’ slave cabins and fields of cotton serving as a constant reminder of the horrors that once took place there.
It is one of America’s oldest working plantations. In the 19th century it was owned by Henry and John Horlbeck who were in the brick business, building many of the public spaces in downtown Charleston using brick from the plantation.
By 1850, Boone Hall was producing 4,000,000 bricks per year using 85 slaves.
Years after tying the knot, the Deadpool actor branded the wedding ‘a giant f***ing mistake’ in a 2020 interview after the pair were widely criticised for seemingly glamorising the former plantation where Black slaves suffered and died.
The ‘shame’ felt by the couple was so strong that they even decided to wed for a second time at their New York home.
They’ve also gone on to donate millions to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and have been vocal about their support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
However despite their efforts to right their wrongs, the scandal surrounding their wedding continues to linger online.
Meanwhile the star has also been accused of wearing ‘blackface’ after admitting she would ‘put bronzer’ all over herself and wear a Scary Spice wig to ‘stalk guys.’
She was slammed after a clip from 2006 showed her joking about using makeup and a wig to make herself look Black.
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The Hollywood couple famously tied the knot on September 9, 2012 during an intimate ceremony at Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens in South Carolina
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12 feet by 30 feet slave cabins still remain on the property, and today house information about the slaves who lived there
In the resurfaced interview posted to TikTok, Blake and Justin Long, 46, were talking to MTV while promoting their film Accepted when she admitted to tricking her crush as a teenager.
She recounted: ‘My best friend and I when we were in 10th grade had like crazy crushes, we’d drive around like stalking these guys.
‘We decided one night to go to the arcade where they were and I put bronzer all over myself and a Scary Spice ‘fro so I think they’d think I was a Black girl, so I could stalk them and my friend dressed up as this goth girl and we literally sat outside their houses,’ she shared.
Her co-stars didn’t bat an eyelid, with Justin responding with: ‘So that makes you sweet and charming, you’re still hot.’
But users were appalled by the story, sharing their thoughts in the comments.
‘I BEG your PARDON?’ one shocked user wrote.
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Lively subsequently thanked the famed lawyer Ifill for penning her piece in the magazine.
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Lively, who has been accused of scheming for control on the set of It Ends with Us, received a glowing tribute from civil rights attorney Sherrilyn Ifill. Pictured in NYC in 2019
‘”I AM a geek… well excuse me because this one time, I bronzed my face to resemble Scary Spice to stalk a guy….” and scene,’ commented another.
‘I…. “So they thought I was a Black girl” like did she just say “I attempted blackface”??????’ questioned another.
‘Did she say the way she is a geek is by cosplaying “as a Black girl,”‘ another user fumed.
However, none of the crticism stood in the way of Blake being named on the Civil Time 100 list of the Most Influential People of 2025, and a gushing tribute from civil rights attorney Sherrilyn Ifill.
In her testimonial, Ifill hailed Lively as a ‘philanthropist’ and a ‘serious person’ who was ‘committed to move this country forward.’
‘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.’
