Blake Lively Makes TIME's 100 Most Influential People List amid Legal Battle

Blake Lively has been named one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.

The "Another Simple Favor" actress, 37, is part of a batch that also includes big names like Ed Sheeran, Joe Rogan, and Donald Trump.

Lively's inclusion on the 2025 TIME100 comes in the middle of a contentious legal battle with her "It Ends with Us" director and co-star Justin Baldoni, which began when she sued him late last year.

In a statement to TIME, civil-rights attorney Sherrilyn Ifill said, "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."

Ifill also said that the actress 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," she added. "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 noted that she "admired immediately" Lively's "curiosity, and her sincere work to understand the conditions that shape this country."

The attorney went on to refer to Lively as "a serious person" and a risk taker, adding, "And she’s committed to moving this country forward."

"For her children. And for mine," she concluded.

Other celebrities who made the 22nd annual TIME100 include cover stars Demi Moore, Snoop Dogg, and Serena Williams,  plus Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis.

Of the 2025 list, TIME Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs wrote in his letter to readers, "TIME's founders knew that focusing on the individuals who are transforming the world is the best way to help readers understand it."

"What does the 2025 TIME100 tell us about the forces shaping our lives?" he continued in part. "It includes six members of the Trump Administration … 16 corporate CEOs, a record and a sign of the emergence of a class of business leaders who are filling a leadership void … nine leaders who are fighting for justice, equality and democracy, at a moment when the rights of so many are at stake."

Jacobs concluded, "Members of the list come from 32 countries … Whatever change comes, we think the 2025 TIME100 will lead it."