Blake Lively and Taylor Swift Share Why Their Friendship Changed: The Importance of Genuine Connections

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NEED TO KNOW

• Legal documents unsealed on January 20 reveal texts exchanged between Blake Lively and Taylor Swift that illuminate their friendship.
• Lively expressed feelings of inadequacy in a text: “I felt like a bad friend lately because I was such a sad sack who only talked about my own s— for months.”
• Sources indicate that the friendship has faced challenges amid Lively’s legal disputes with Justin Baldoni.

Taylor Swift and Blake Lively’s friendship reportedly began to wane prior to public acknowledgment of their fallout.

In legal documents unsealed on January 20, ahead of a summary judgment hearing related to Lively’s ongoing lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, text exchanges between the two women were included. While the messages do not mention Lively or Swift by name, the context in the filings suggests they were indeed conversing.

Lively wrote to Swift, “I have no reason to ask, but I donno [sic], I’ve been feeling like I should… is everything ok? I felt like a bad friend lately because I was such a sad sack who only talked about my own s— for months. You were generous to not only be the key person there for me during all of it, but also to let me off the hook for being so in it.” She mentioned her husband, Ryan Reynolds, advised her to reach out to Swift about her concerns.

Lively continued, “I always want the opportunity to be a better friend if there’s something I unintentionally did. I know how busy and taxed you are—physically, emotionally, practically—so I don’t expect any more from you ever. Just want to make sure all is good.”

Swift’s reply came over an hour later, in which she reassured Lively, stating she was “not wrong, but it’s also not a big deal.”

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

Kevin Mazur/WireImage; Araya Doheny/Variety via Getty

Swift shared her feelings about a shift in their communication. “I think I’m just exhausted in every avenue of my life and in recent months had been feeling a little bit of a shift in the way you talk to me,” she mentioned. “Yes, there has been a lot of Justin stuff, but I’ve been through things like this before and I know how all-consuming it is.”

“It’s more like… and I feel really bad saying anything about this because your texts have been so nice in their intent, but your last few… it’s felt like I was reading a mass corporate email sent to 200 employees,” Swift continued. She expressed a longing for the candidness of their previous conversations, emphasizing, “I just kinda miss my funny, dark, normal-speaking friend who talks to me as herself.”

In a subsequent message, Lively indicated her awareness of the issue, stating she had become “digitally paranoid.” She reflected, “So yeah, I’ve been texting like I’m writing. Not like me talking. I didn’t realize that until you pointed it out, but I see it.” She admitted that feelings of misunderstanding contributed to her tendency to over-explain.

Lively shared her emotional struggles, recounting a sense of isolation: “The thing that spooked me most…was the good guys, my lifelong friends, who quietly dipped. And so I’m probably being over the top with my friends who stayed because I’ve never felt more alone.”

In a closing note, Lively thanked Swift and expressed her frustration with the challenges she faced, stating, “F— that guy and f— his whole gaggle of supervillains.”

This exchange occurred just days before Swift concluded her tour, with Lively expressing her excitement for Swift to finally be free from the grueling demands of touring.

Sources previously revealed that the dynamic of Lively and Swift’s friendship had become complex amidst Lively’s legal battle with Baldoni, who has denied allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation.

In Lively’s texts alluded to in Baldoni’s January 2025 countersuit, the actress referred to both her husband and Swift as “dragons,” indicating their role as her defenders—a reference that resonates with the popular culture phenomenon of *Game of Thrones*.

In a statement regarding attempts to subpoena Swift, her representative clarified her limited connection to the film *It Ends With Us*, which was unrelated to the legal proceedings surrounding Lively.

“The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, ‘My Tears Ricochet.’ Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case,” the spokesperson stated.