The Reality of Taylor Swift and Blake Lively’s Friendship Amid Justin Baldoni Feud

 The Reality of Taylor Swift and Blake Lively’s Friendship Amid Justin Baldoni Feud 

Despite reports of tension between Taylor Swift and Blake Lively amid Lively’s legal dispute with Justin Baldoni, a source told E! News, “It’s not true.”

Rumors of a rift surfaced after the Daily Mail claimed Taylor had “taken a step back” from Blake due to being mentioned by her first name in Justin’s lawsuit filed on Jan. 16. The report suggested the Fortnight singer wanted to avoid getting further “tangled” in the legal battle surrounding It Ends With Us.

However, Taylor has consistently shown unwavering support for Blake. The two have been close friends since 2015 and continue to be seen together frequently, from the 2024 Super Bowl to New York City dinners and even the 2023 Renaissance concert film premiere in London.

Taylor has even woven Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ daughters into her music, featuring a voice note from their eldest in Reputation’s “Gorgeous” and name-dropping all three in folklore’s “betty.” The couple shares James, 10, Inez, 8, and Betty, 5—all referenced in the song—as well as their youngest, Olin, born in 2023.

In fact, when Taylor—now dating Travis Kelce—won Album of the Year for folklore in 2021, she credited Blake and Ryan as some of her most trusted listeners, saying that after her then-boyfriend Joe Alwyn, they were “the second and third people that I play every new song that I write.”

 

Blake and Taylor’s friendship has also extended into creative collaborations. In 2021, Blake directed the music video for I Bet You Think About Me from Red (Taylor’s Version)—a milestone Taylor acknowledged when accepting Favorite Pop Album at the American Music Awards the following year, calling Blake her “beautiful, brilliant friend.”

Meanwhile, Blake and Ryan have been unwavering in their support of Taylor. Their entire family attended the Eras Tour together in New Orleans last year, and Blake made multiple appearances at shows throughout the tour.

Blake was so captivated by the experience that she wished the already three-hour concert was “47 hours long.”

As for Ryan, he couldn’t stop raving about it either.

“When I’m 95 years old and my wife and kids wheel me outside and into the sun so I can drink a sandwich, I’ll still be talking about seeing this show in New Orleans,” he joked in an October Instagram post. “I don’t understand the unimaginable work, care, talent, and discipline @taylorswift generates to create an experience like this because I’m not a scientist.”

When it comes to Blake and Taylor’s friendship—it’ll never go out of style. Keep reading to see how…

December 2015

While touring in Australia, Taylor Swift took a break to visit Warner Bros. Movie World theme park with Blake Lively, who was in town filming The Shallows.

"Yesterday was such an amazing day off—roller coasters, kangaroos and LOLs with @blakelively," the Lavender Haze singer shared on Instagram. Not long after, Blake was spotted dancing in the crowd at Taylor’s 1989 World Tour stop in Adelaide.

Their public hangout came just three months after speculation swirled that Blake had thrown shade at Taylor’s Bad Blood music video on Instagram. However, Blake quickly shut down the rumors, tweeting, “Umm whoever thought I was throwin shade clearly doesn’t know I have a ‘Taylor Swift Please Be My Wife Voo Doo Doll.’”

She later posted a backstage photo of her family with Taylor, praising the singer’s kindness. “Look how rad she is here making my niece Heather feel like a rock star,” Blake wrote. “Love my Canadian family almost as much as I love Taylor Lively. I mean Swift. Ok, FIIINE we can hyphenate our last names. Xo Blake Swift-Lively 4eva.”

December 2015

For Taylor Swift’s 25th birthday, Blake Lively sent a truly unique gift—a cat-themed pie.

In a now-deleted Instagram post, Taylor shared a photo of the pastry, decorated with images of her beloved cats, Meredith and Olivia, and inscribed with “Happy Thanksgiving Birthday.” She captioned the post, “Blake wins at birthday pies,” adding, “I honestly can't stop laughing rn.”

July 2016

Blake, who was pregnant with her second child, and her husband Ryan Reynolds joined Taylor’s star-studded Fourth of July party at her Rhode Island home. Among the other guests were Gigi Hadid, Cara Delevingne, Ruby Rose, Uzo Aduba, HAIM, Karlie Kloss, and Taylor’s then-boyfriend, Tom Hiddleston—marking the infamous debut of the “I ❤️ T.S.” shirt.

August 2016

Taylor traveled to upstate New York to attend Blake’s baby shower at the Bedford Post Inn. She later spent a weekend with Blake and Ryan after the birth of their second daughter, Inez, even visiting Blake in the hospital.

November 2017

When Taylor released Reputation’s track “Gorgeous,” fans speculated that the child’s voice featured in the intro belonged to James Reynolds, Blake and Ryan’s eldest daughter. Their suspicions were confirmed when Taylor credited James in the album’s liner notes.

The following year, Blake and Ryan were caught on camera having the sweetest reaction when the song played during Taylor’s concert at Gillette Stadium—further proving their love for their “aunt” Taylor.

July 2020

Taylor’s surprise album folklore sparked major fan theories when the song “betty” featured the names James, Inez, and Betty—leading many to believe Betty was the name of Blake and Ryan’s third daughter. Ryan later confirmed it, saying on The Jess Cagle Show, “The names are the names of our kids, but, you know, we trust her implicitly… What an honor. We still think it’s pretty damn amazing.”

November 2021

Blake and Taylor took their friendship to the next level when Blake made her directorial debut, helming the music video for Red (Taylor’s Version)’s vault track, “I Bet You Think About Me.” Taylor raved about the collaboration, writing, “I finally got to work with the brilliant, brave & wickedly funny @blakelively on her directorial debut. Join us as we raise a toast, and a little hell.”

That same month, Blake and Ryan helped celebrate Taylor’s Saturday Night Live performance with a night out in NYC, joined by Cara Delevingne, Joe Jonas, Sophie Turner, and Anya Taylor-Joy.

June 2022

Blake and Ryan supported Taylor at the Tribeca Film Festival, where she discussed the short film she directed for the 10-minute version of All Too Well.

November 2022

After Taylor released Midnights, Ryan opened up about how much their daughters adored her, saying they originally just saw her as a close family friend—until they attended one of her concerts.

“Ohhhhh, this isn’t a hobby,” he recalled them realizing.

He added that Taylor’s music was practically “a religion” in their house and revealed that after his interview, the family was planning a Midnights dance party. “My favorite thing is when a 3-year-old is just throwing down the F-bomb in a song and has no idea,” he joked.

April 2023

Shortly after news broke of Taylor’s split from Joe Alwyn, she was spotted leaving Manhattan hotspot Casa Cipriani with Blake and Ryan—literally in a getaway car. A few days later, Taylor and Blake had a girls’ day out with Gigi Hadid and the Haim sisters at Zero Bond.

October 2023

The trio attended a Kansas City Chiefs game at MetLife Stadium to support Taylor’s new boyfriend, Travis Kelce. Ryan later joked about the excitement surrounding Taylor’s NFL appearances, saying, “The NFL right now is reaching a kind of fever pitch that is usually only reserved for the Super Bowl.”

May 2024

During an interview on Today, Ryan quipped that he and Blake still hadn’t revealed their fourth child’s name because they were waiting on Taylor to announce it first—a playful nod to folklore’s betty.

“We always wait for Taylor to tell us what the child's name will be,” he joked. “And, we'll say this: we're still waiting… She’s a prolific writer. I mean, what are we doing here?”