Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively "deeply and unreservedly sorry" for holding their wedding at a plantation
Ryan Reynolds has said that he and Blake Lively are "unreservedly sorry" for holding their 2012 wedding at Boone Hall in Charleston County, a former plantation in South Carolina.
Speaking to Fast Company, Reynolds insisted that he and Lively will "always be deeply and unreservedly" apologetic for having the ceremony take place at the former plantation.
"It's something we'll always be deeply and unreservedly sorry for," he explained. "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."
Reynolds added that a "mistake like that can either cause you to shut down or it can reframe things and move you into action".
In June, the couple donated $200,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the wake of the death of George Floyd in the US.
In a Instagram post, they wrote: "We look back and see so many mistakes which have led us to deeply examine who we are and who we want to become. They've led us to huge avenues of education."
The two added that they are "committed to raising our kids so they never grow up feeding this insane pattern" and said that their donation "is just a start".
"We want to use our privilege and platform to be an ally," they wrote. "And to play a part in easing pain for so many who feel as though this grand experiment is failing them."
Earlier this month, Reynolds launched a diversity mentorship programme for his movie sets called The Group Effort Initiative.
The Deadpool star will personally finance the programme, which will give people of colour the opportunity to work on titles the actor is involved with.
Run through his production company Maximum Effort, the initiative aims to set 10 to 20 trainees up with real-life film experience in the hopes of making the movie industry "stronger and more dynamic" with previously "untapped talent".
The trainees will be paid and accommodated from Reynolds' own salary. Reynolds explained: "I've had a front-row seat to the immense talent of so many artisans, storytellers and experts.
"Being a member of a film crew is a special experience – but that privilege hasn't been extended to everyone. There's a ton of untapped talent out there.
"This action is the right thing to do, but it's worth noting that inclusivity will also make our industry stronger and more dynamic. We will tell better stories."
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