Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds Donate $200K To NAACP, Acknowledge Past 'Mistakes'

Admitting to their "own blindness" in the past when it comes to white privilege, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds made a $200,000 donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on Sunday night.

In a lengthy statement, the couple also vowed to do better in the future and keep themselves and their three daughters more informed of the world around them.

"We never had to worry about preparing our kids for different rules of law or what might happen if we're pulled over in the car," they wrote. "We don't know what it's like to experience that life day in and day out. We can't imagine feeling that kind of fear and anger. We're ashamed that in the past we've allowed ourselves to be uninformed about how deeply rooted systemic racism is."

"We've been teaching our children differently than the way our parents taught us," they continued. "We want to educate ourselves about other people's experiences and talk to our kids about everything, all of it... especially our own complicity. We talk about our bias, blindness and our own mistakes. 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 are parents to three daughters: James, Inez and a third born in 2019 whose name is still unknown.

"We're committed to raising our kids so they never grow up feeding this insane pattern and so they'll do their best to never inflict pain on another being consciously or unconsciously," they wrote. "It's the least we can do to honor not just George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Eric Garner, but all the black men and women who have been killed when a camera wasn't rolling."

In addition to their donation to the NAACP, the two promised to "stay educated" when it comes to local elections as well, saying they'll take it upon themselves to know everyone's "positions on justice."

"Mainly, we want to use our privilege and platform to be an ally," the concluded. "And to play a part in easing pain for so many who feel as though this grand experiment is failing them."

Their pledge comes after the two were criticized in the past for romanticizing slave plantations by getting married at Boone Hall Plantation in Charleston in 2012. Boone Hall, like many plantations, used slaves to produce bricks and cultivate crops.

Many celebrities have taken a stand against racism following the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Video captured Derek Chauvin with his knee on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes during Floyd's arrest for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd was unresponsive when paramedics arrived and was later pronounced dead.