{"id":78611,"date":"2025-08-18T23:51:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T23:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/78611\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T23:51:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T23:51:10","slug":"all-i-am-asking-for-is-some-critical-thinking-about-the-blake-lively-and-taylor-swift-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/78611\/","title":{"rendered":"All I Am Asking For Is Some Critical Thinking About The Blake Lively And Taylor Swift &#8220;Reports&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Note: This post is an Op-Ed and shares the author&#8217;s personal views.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">If you&#8217;ve vaguely been keeping up with the ongoing legal saga between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, then you&#8217;ve likely heard Taylor Swift&#8217;s name being tossed around.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"> Sean Zanni \/ WireImage, Araya Doheny \/ Variety via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/laurengarafano\/famous-women-who-are-taller-than-you-think-1?utm_source=yahoo-recirc-links\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:23 Celebrity Women Who I Always Knew Were Tall, But They&#039;re Actually Much Taller Than I Expected;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">23 Celebrity Women Who I Always Knew Were Tall, But They&#8217;re Actually Much Taller Than I Expected<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Last year, Blake accused the It Ends With Us director and star of sexual harassment and retaliation. He then countersued and alleged that Blake had, among other things, used the influence of people like Taylor to try to exert control over the movie, with Blake <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/blake-lively-compared-herself-to-khaleesi-in-texts-to-justin-baldoni-lawsuit-8776041\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:referring;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">referring<\/a> to the singer as a &#8220;dragon&#8221; to her &#8220;Khaleesi&#8221; over text message. Justin&#8217;s $400-million lawsuit against Blake has since been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/news\/general-news\/justin-baldoni-lawsuit-against-blake-lively-tossed-out-1236260173\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:thrown out;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">thrown out<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"A man in a dark outfit and a woman in a sophisticated blouse and full skirt walk streets during a filming scene, surrounded by crew and extras\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"700\" height=\"647\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cfb174042490d5f1a8e77514b8e7add1.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p> Jose Perez\/Bauer-Griffin \/ GC Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Still, a line of &#8220;sources&#8221; has been telling a story of the decade-long friendship between the two disintegrating. Back in May, a <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/taylor-swift-blake-lively-halted-friendship-source-exclusive-11735539\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:source;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">source<\/a> said that their friendship had &#8220;halted&#8221; as &#8220;Taylor wants no part in this drama.&#8221; This weekend, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/larryfitzmaurice\/taylor-swift-blake-lively-not-speaking-reports\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:source;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">source<\/a> told People, &#8220;Taylor and Blake aren&#8217;t speaking.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Four women at an event: one with yellow curls and drink, one in black sleeveless, another in a black dress, and one with long curls in a red tracksuit\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/9b7016abb51e39ab336f7fe20d927d42.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p> Steph Chambers \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Here&#8217;s the thing: I think there&#8217;s a possibility it&#8217;s all bullshit.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Celebrity wearing a patterned shirt and overalls in a casual indoor setting, looking off to the side\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"396\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1d1be0001315f0f5269b2ea0e302d500.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p> Sony Pictures Releasing \/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/ellendurney\/why-kieran-culkins-kids-havent-watched-home-alone?utm_source=yahoo-recirc-links\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Kieran Culkin Explained Why His Kids Haven\u2019t Watched \u201cHome Alone\u201d Yet, And His Reasoning Makes Total Sense;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Kieran Culkin Explained Why His Kids Haven\u2019t Watched \u201cHome Alone\u201d Yet, And His Reasoning Makes Total Sense<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">I think it&#8217;s worth considering that Justin&#8217;s team has been called out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/natashajokic1\/justin-baldoni-blake-lively-taylor-swift\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:by the judge on their case;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">by the judge on their case<\/a> for evoking Taylor before. When Justin&#8217;s lawyer tried to claim that an unspecified source had informed him that Blake had threatened to release texts between herself and Taylor if she didn&#8217;t support her, the judge struck it from the record and said, &#8220;The sole purpose of the Letter is to &#8216;promote public scandal&#8217; by advancing inflammatory accusations, on information and belief, against Lively and her counsel&#8230;It transparently invites a press uproar by suggesting that Lively and her counsel attempted to &#8216;extort&#8217; a well-known celebrity.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Person in a chic red dress with a draped skirt, posing on a red carpet with music-themed backdrop\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"1318\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0dcc58bad0da188b224c4933fdb1d238.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p> Axelle\/Bauer-Griffin \/ FilmMagic<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">We know that evoking Taylor was likely considered as part of Justin&#8217;s PR strategy from at least last August. Blake&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/file\/477142\/blake-lively-complaint.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:lawsuit;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">lawsuit<\/a> provides a &#8220;Scenario Planning Document&#8221; created by Justin&#8217;s PR team &#8220;should [Ms. Lively] and her team make her grievances public.&#8221; It suggests that Justin&#8217;s team should &#8220;also explore planting stories about the weaponization of feminism and how people in BL\u2019s circle like Taylor Swift, have been accused of utilizing these tactics to \u2018bully\u2019 into getting what they want.\u201d Justin&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/dam.tmz.com\/document\/22\/o\/2025\/02\/01\/2239f45c1ecb4e1680f278ba9c5c6092.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:team;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">team<\/a> has said that they created the document because they believed Blake and Ryan Reynolds were taking &#8220;extreme measures&#8221; to &#8220;undermine&#8221; Justin.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Three women at an event, with one in a leather jacket and another in a strapless top, clapping and smiling. Crowd in the background\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/773738ab19b9189ac4b2a80c4828083b.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p> Kevin Sabitus \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/mychalthompson\/honey-boo-boo-toddlers-and-tiaras-19-now?utm_source=yahoo-recirc-links\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:&quot;Honey Boo Boo&quot; Is A 19-Year-Old College Student Now, And Here&#039;s What She Looks Like Today;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">&#8220;Honey Boo Boo&#8221; Is A 19-Year-Old College Student Now, And Here&#8217;s What She Looks Like Today<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">We also know that Justin&#8217;s team probably had a meeting with at least one contributor to various tabloids who, according to messages from Justin&#8217;s PR team that appear in Blake&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/file\/477142\/blake-lively-complaint.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:lawsuit;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">lawsuit<\/a>, &#8220;hates Blake&#8221; and \u201cwill do anything for [Justin&#8217;s team].&#8221; A member of Justin&#8217;s team also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/celebrity-news\/news\/justin-baldonis-team-feared-taylor-swift-fan-base-activation-docs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:expressed fear;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">expressed fear<\/a> that Blake would &#8220;activate&#8221; Taylor&#8217;s fans against Justin, according to court documents.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Two individuals walking at night, one in a striped sweater and skirt, the other in a velvet dress and boots, attended a celebrity event\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"1441\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/02a75c91183db8f6433b83b7424ab6ca.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p> Robert Kamau \/ GC Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Now, Justin&#8217;s team has denied orchestrating a smear campaign against Blake. But I do think it&#8217;s fair to question the validity of stories that seem to want to weaponize the Swifties against Blake. These stories could easily serve two end goals: 1) Make Blake the bad guy in the court of public opinion, and, 2) Distract from ongoing news from the court case that doesn&#8217;t exactly paint Justin in a great light.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"A couple sharing an intimate moment, standing close and smiling at each other in a softly lit setting\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"397\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/01de5fb1e7ebba9c3f340043dae533b9.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p> Sony Pictures Releasing \/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">You might subsequently ask, Well, why hasn&#8217;t Taylor come to Blake&#8217;s defense? Why haven&#8217;t they even been seen in public? To that, I&#8217;d say that this is an ongoing legal case. Given that Justin&#8217;s team are essentially arguing that Blake uses Taylor to strong-arm people into getting her way, it wouldn&#8217;t be a great look for either one of them to make a big public show of support.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Two individuals walk together holding hands. One wears a tweed jacket with a striped skirt and boots; the other is in a black dress with sandals\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"1063\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/37e9a43a888dda9713410159e935c507.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p> Gotham \/ GC Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/ellendurney\/vittoria-ceretti-addresses-leonardo-dicaprio-relationship?utm_source=yahoo-recirc-links\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Leonardo DiCaprio\u2019s 26-Year-Old Girlfriend, Vittoria Ceretti, Just Talked About What It\u2019s Really Like Dating Him \u2014 And Some Of Her Comments Are Making Me View Them Differently;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Leonardo DiCaprio\u2019s 26-Year-Old Girlfriend, Vittoria Ceretti, Just Talked About What It\u2019s Really Like Dating Him \u2014 And Some Of Her Comments Are Making Me View Them Differently<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">None of this is even getting into the fact that this isn&#8217;t some petty &#8220;drama.&#8221; Real domestic violence organizations have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/natashajokic1\/blake-lively-justin-baldoni-support\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:argued;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">argued<\/a> that this case could have affected how we litigate and talk about sexual harassment. Remember, underneath all of the noise is a documented allegation of sexual harassment. This is true regardless of whether or not someone made a cringe comment about an old HBO show. So when you comment about how you can&#8217;t be fucked to hear about this anymore, remember that all the money and privilege in the world could allegedly not stop someone from being smeared for raising a workplace complaint. If Taylor has broken up with Blake over the &#8220;drama,&#8221; then what does that say about her?<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Two women in stylish black dresses laugh and walk together at a nighttime event, accompanied by several people\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"751\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/59149f157f6a3543debace8e771484a6.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p> Gotham \/ GC Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In short: Maybe there&#8217;s more going on than what the sources say!<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Also in Celebrity: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/hannahmarder\/cringe-worthy-celeb-moments-fs?utm_source=yahoo-recirc-links\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:34 Cringey Celeb Moments That I Feel Like Everyone Collectively Forgot;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">34 Cringey Celeb Moments That I Feel Like Everyone Collectively Forgot<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Also in Celebrity: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/kristenharris1\/times-celebs-lacked-common-sense?utm_source=yahoo-recirc-links\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:11 Baffling Celeb Moments Where They Forgot Common Sense;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">11 Baffling Celeb Moments Where They Forgot Common Sense<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Also in Celebrity: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/hannahmarder\/cringe-worthy-celeb-moments?utm_source=yahoo-recirc-links\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:34 Cringey Celeb Moments That I Feel Like Everyone Collectively Forgot;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">34 Cringey Celeb Moments That I Feel Like Everyone Collectively Forgot<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/natashajokic1\/taylor-swift-blake-lively-friendship-reports-opinion?utm_source=yahoo-recirc-links\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Read it on BuzzFeed.com;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Read it on BuzzFeed.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Note: This post is an Op-Ed and shares the author&#8217;s personal views. If you&#8217;ve vaguely been keeping up&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,60026,26705,447,134,26706,32055,2897,15291],"class_list":{"0":"post-78611","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-blake-and-ryan-reynolds","11":"tag-blake-lively","12":"tag-celebrities","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-justin-baldoni","15":"tag-sexual-harassment","16":"tag-taylor-swift","17":"tag-wireimage"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}