Ryan Reynolds sparks controversy for claiming wife Blake Lively was 'working class'

Ryan Reynolds is a star often more associated with humor than controversy, but he's found himself in the firing line recently after claiming that his wife Blake Lively grew up 'working class'.

As two of the biggest names in Hollywood, it's fair to say Reynolds and Lively are very far from working class nowadays.

They have a combined net worth of $380 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, and both have drinks companies which continue to rake in the cash when the actors are taking time away from the big screen and their other projects.

But in their younger years, Reynolds has suggested it was a very different story.

Reynolds and Lively share four children (Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

The Deadpool star made his comments in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in which he was asked how he and Lively, who share four kids together, had largely kept their children out of the public eye despite both being huge names in Hollywood.

Reynolds said: "We try to give them as normal a life as possible. I try not to impose upon them the difference in their childhood to my childhood or my wife’s childhood."

The actor then came out with the comment that most people have picked up on, saying: "We both grew up very working class."

Reynolds was born into a family of six in Vancouver, Canada in 1976 to parents Tammy and James Chester Reynolds.

James was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1995, and died in 2015. Prior to his death, he had spent time working as a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police - a job Reynolds once described to The Times as being a 'dirtier, rougher and a much more difficult job than you'd think'.

Lively's parents both worked in Hollywood (Jim Spellman/WireImage)

Lively, meanwhile, grew up in Los Angeles with her parents Ernie and Elaine Lively, both of who worked in Hollywood - Ernie as an actor and director, and Elaine as an actor and talent manager.

In 2006, Lively told Radio Free Entertainment that she'd 'grown up on sets', and when she was 10 years old her father cast her in a small role in his 1998 film, Sandman.

With this in mind, social media users have hit back at Reynolds' claim about Lively being 'working class'.

Responding to his quote on Instagram, one person quipped: "Stop trying to make Relatable Blake happen, it’s NOT going to happen."

Another added: "Just because her parents worked, doesn’t make them working class."

Fans criticised Reynolds' use of 'working class' (Gotham/GC Images)

Though Reynolds and his fans might have differing views on what 'working class' means, he went on to discuss how he tries to prevent his and Lively's fame from going to his children's heads.

"I remember when they were very young, I used to say or think, like, 'Oh God, I would never have had a gift like this when I was a kid', or, 'I never would’ve had this luxury of getting takeout', or whatever. Then I realized that that’s not really their bag of rocks to carry.

"They’re already very much in touch with gratitude and understanding the world enough to have a strong sense of empathy. Those are the things that I would think [would indicate] we’re doing an OK job — if our kids can empathize with other people and other kids. But yes, it’s different. When I was a kid, you would just suck it up, get out of the house and be back by sundown, which I just can’t even imagine now."