Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively have received backlash over the venue for their September 2012 wedding. Lively and Reynolds tied the knot at the Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens in South Carolina. While it was not addressed at the time of their nuptials, Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens has been criticized for operating as a wedding venue due to its connection to slavery. Years after their ceremony, Reynolds and Lively received criticism for getting married at the problematic venue. Despite issuing a public apology and making donations to support diverse causes, the couple have remained under fire for the decision. Keep scrolling for a full breakdown on Reynolds and Lively's controversial wedding venue: Where Did Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively Get Married? Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds tied the knot at the Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. The location is a historical site that has hosted presidents, politicians and celebrities for numerous events. In addition to holding weddings, Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens has been featured in movies and TV shows including The Notebook, Days of Our Lives, Scarlett, North and South and more. Why Is the Venue Controversial? Before becoming a historical landmark, Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens operated as a slave labor camp. The location held more than 300 enslaved people where they worked and lived. Today, there are nine slave cabins, which is known as Slave Street, that have been preserved on site. Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens has received criticism from civil right groups for marketing the former slave plantation as a romantic wedding venue. Activists have argued it disregards the site's history of violence and brutality towards Black Americans. On Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens' website, the location states that while the topic of slavery is "difficult" to discuss, it has the "responsibility to present the history of slavery in an accurate and educational manner each day in a way that pays honor and respect to that history and the progress of Black Americans." When Did Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds Get Backlash for the Venue? Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds didn't face immediate criticism for choosing a controversial venue, but backlash surfaced in 2018 when Reynolds praised Black Panther, which was Marvel's first movie to feature a Black actor as a lead, on social media. "BELIEVE. THE. HYPE, #WakandaForever," the Deadpool star tweeted at the time. Several online users shared their skepticism about Reynolds' endorsement after pointing out that the actor and Lively got married on a plantation. "You don't think it's even a little f***ed up to be all 'Wakanda forever' when you literally got married standing on dust from the bones of murdered slaves?" one person replied via X. Reynolds did not address the comment at the time. Two years later, Reynolds and Lively were under fire again during the Blake Lives Matter movement. What Did Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively Say About the Venue? After receiving backlash in 2020, Ryan Reynolds addressed his and Blake Lively's controversial wedding location. The Marvel star claimed they were unaware of the landmark's dark past. "It's impossible to reconcile," Reynolds said in a 2020 interview with Fast Company. "What we saw at the time was a wedding venue on Pinterest. What we saw after was a place built upon devastating tragedy." Pinterest subsequently took action to remove images of plantations as wedding venues on their site. "Weddings should be a symbol of love and unity. Plantations represent none of those things," a spokesperson for Pinterest said at the time, per The Washington Post. "We are working to limit the distribution of this content and accounts across our platform, and continue to not accept advertisements for them." Lively addressed the controversy during her July 2025 deposition amid her legal battle against Justin Baldoni, which was later revealed when the court documents were unsealed in January 2026. "I feel like that negative press was deserved," Lively acknowledged at the time. "It's a mistake we have publicly acknowledged and done a lot of work to reconcile for ourselves and others." Did Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds Apologize? Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds publicly apologized in 2020 for not knowing the history behind the Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens. "We're ashamed that in the past we've allowed ourselves to be uninformed about how deeply rooted systemic racism is," the couple wrote on Instagram. "We want to educate ourselves about other people's experiences and talk to our kids about everything, all of it ... especially our own complicity." They also donated $200,000 to the NAACP legal defense fund in May 2020, following the death of George Floyd. Why Was the Wedding Venue Mentioned in the Justin Baldoni Lawsuit? During Blake Lively's deposition with Justin Baldoni's lawyer Bryan Freedman, the attorney asked the actress about receiving negative press for he