Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds can barely move this year without ruffling feathers. First there was the controversy surrounding Lively’s hit film It Ends With Us, where fans criticised Lively for not addressing domestic violence enough during her press tour for a movie about... domestic violence.
Then there was the general oversaturation of Reynolds that came in response to him being literally everywhere during the promo for Deadpool and Wolverine. Now, the pair are under fire for referring to themselves as “working class”.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ryan Reynolds discussed he and Lively's efforts to provide a grounded upbringing for their four children. Reynolds attributed their parenting approach to their "very working class" backgrounds, saying, "I try not to impose upon them the difference in their childhood to my childhood or my wife’s childhood. We both grew up very working class."
This claim about Lively's upbringing has sparked debate, as many perceive this to not be the case. Born in the affluent Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles, Lively is the daughter of actor Ernie Lively and talent scout Elaine Lively.
Her early experiences of the entertainment industry included accompanying her parents to acting classes. "My mom and dad always taught acting, so instead of getting me babysitters, they would just bring me to class,” she told W magazine in 2008. Lively’s film debut was also directed by her father.
Meanwhile, Ryan Reynolds, who hails from Vancouver in Canada, has a history of describing his upbringing as modest. His father, Jim Reynolds, worked as a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman before retiring from the force and going to work as a foods wholesaler, while his mother worked in retail. People are taking less umbrage with his personal reference to be working class as a result.
This debate mirrors the 2023 incident involving Victoria Beckham, who was challenged by her husband, David Beckham, when she called herself working class during Beckham, the Netflix documentary. David interjected, prompting Victoria to acknowledge that she was driven to school in her father's Rolls-Royce. The moment became heavily memed, but also sparked a conversation around the changing nature of class.
This is not the first time Reynolds and Lively have taken flack for seeming out of touch. They infamously held their wedding at a former slave plantation, and in 2020, Reynolds expressed regret over this choice, saying: "It's impossible to reconcile. What we saw at the time was a wedding venue on Pinterest. What we saw after was a place built upon devastating tragedy."
