Blake Lively and Taylor Swift had a passionate one-on-one
Private text messages revealed this week suggest tensions between Lively and Swift began quietly, long before any public signs emerged.
The exchange, included in legal documents released Tuesday ahead of a Jan. 22 summary judgment hearing in Lively’s lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, shows the longtime friends addressing a growing emotional divide in real time.
In the messages, which are not labeled with names but are described elsewhere in the documents as being between Lively and Swift, Lively reaches out first in concern.
She admits to feeling self-centered during a difficult time and worries that she may have unintentionally hurt Swift.
“I have no reason to ask, but I don’t know [sic]I feel like I should… is everything okay? she wrote, adding that her husband Ryan Reynolds encouraged her to speak up.
Lively goes on to say that she wanted the chance to “be a better friend” and emphasizes that she doesn’t expect anything more from Swift, given how overwhelmed and busy the singer has been.
Swift responds more than an hour later with honesty, saying Lively’s instincts weren’t wrong.
She tells her friend that she’s been “burned out in every area of my life” and that she noticed “a little change” in the way Lively communicated, especially in the midst of what she calls “a lot of Justin stuff.”
Swift explains that while Lively’s messages were kind, they sometimes seemed impersonal.
“I felt like I was reading a mass corporate email to 200 employees,” she wrote, before adding that she missed “my funny, dark, normally speaking friend.” Swift reassures her: “You don’t need to apologize. Just please come back.”
Lively responded a few hours later, admitting that the comments hit home.
She says she became “digitally paranoid” and realized she was texting “like I was writing.” Not like I’m talking.”
She attributes this change to feeling deeply misunderstood and shaken by her experience, writing plainly: “This fucking guy and what he did to me gave me an identity crisis. Legitimately.”
The actress also shares that what hurt her the most was not her critics, but her friends who she thought were allies who quietly disappeared.
That fear, she admits, probably led her to overcompensate for those who stayed. Lively ends by thanking Swift, apologizing “to you… to me and to our children” and expressing her anger: “F— this guy and f— his whole gang of supervillains.” »
The exchange took place just days before Swift wrapped up her Eras tour, with Lively concluding on a supportive note saying she was thrilled that Swift was finally done with “suitcases, constant sinus infections, and torn kneecaps.”
Sources previously said the friendship became complicated amid Lively’s legal battle with Baldoni, whom she accused of sexual harassment and retaliation, allegations he denied.
The newly revealed texts offer a rare and candid look at how that turmoil transformed into one of Hollywood’s most talked about friendships.
