5 controversies involving Blake Lively: From Justin Baldoni feud to mocking Kate Middleton

5 brutal controversies Blake Lively has faced over the year

It's been almost two decades since Blake Lively cemented her position as Hollywood's fashion queen and impeccable actress. Since her marriage to Ryan Reynolds in 2012, the couple has been loved and admired by fans for their sizzling chemistry. Although the actress mostly leads a controversial life, there have been instances when the 'Gossip Girl' alum has been embroiled in controversies. Here are five such controversies related to Blake Lively. 

1. Blake Lively's insensitive post about Kate Middleton

Lively got herself into a bit of a mess when she made a thoughtless comment about Kate Middleton's Photoshop mishap while trying to sell her drink brand. After Kate had scheduled an abdominal surgery in January, she took a break from the limelight to get better. But as people started wondering where she was, the drama just kept piling up. Things got heated when a bunch of photo-sharing sites took down a picture Kate had posted for Mother's Day. That's when it seemed like Lively was making a dig at Kate's Photoshop slip-up and her long break from the public eye when she shared a heavily edited selfie to promote her drinks brand. She wrote in the caption, "I'm so excited to share this new photo I just took today to announce our 4 new @bettybuzz & @bettybooze products! Now you know why I've been MIA." Needless to say, Lively received immense backlash from fans who criticized her for her insensitive take on the matter. However, after the Princess of Wales announced her cancer diagnosis, Lively took to her Instagram to apologize for her "silly post." She wrote, "I'm sure no one cares today but I feel I have to acknowledge this," before adding, "I made a silly post around the 'photoshop fails' frenzy and, oh, man, that post has me mortified today."

2. Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' marriage venue sparks controversy

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have become one of Hollywood's favorite couples over the years. But their journey to stardom wasn't without its bumps. They got a lot of flak for choosing Boone Hall Plantation as their wedding venue. Apart from being one of the oldest working plantations, the property also witnessed several atrocities on people who were kept as slaves there. Three months after tying the knot in 2012, when the couple first released the pictures of their marriage ceremony, they received heavy criticism for glamorizing a place known for a painful past. In 2020, however, Reynolds and Lively donated $200,000 to the human rights group NAACP. They published a statement, saying, "We're ashamed that in the past we've allowed ourselves to be uninformed about how deeply rooted systemic racism is." During the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in August 2020, Reynolds admitted "something we'll always be deeply and unreservedly sorry for" their wedding venue. He continued, "It's impossible to reconcile. What we saw at the time was a wedding venue on Pinterest. What we saw after was a place built upon devastating tragedy."

3. Blake Lively's 'It Ends With Us' promotional talk angers fans

Lately, the actress has been getting some flak for how she's been pushing her new movie 'It Ends With Us'. Fans were up in arms, saying that while the movie, which is based on a book by Colleen Hoover and tackles the heavy issue of domestic violence, Lively didn't seem to be taking it seriously enough. Instead of focusing on the important stuff, fans were quick to point out that Lively was more into talking about her hair care line and the movie's overly flowery stuff. In an interview with Lively, the writer Colleen Hoover and the two female stars of the movie - Isabela Ferrer and Jenny Slate - ended up talking about pretty much everything but the real issue at hand. Angry fans took to Instagram to vent, saying that their casual chat in the interview skipped over the deep topic of the movie to go for a lighter, more fun chat, according to the Daily Mail.

4. Blake Lively's alleged rift with director Justin Baldoni

The 'Sisterhood of Traveling Pants' actress recently caused further controversy with her involvement in 'It Ends With Us' after speculation of a rift between her and the film's director and actor, Justin Baldoni. Not only were the two co-stars not photographed together at the film's New York premiere, but many observant fans have also noticed that the duo no longer follow each other on Instagram. In addition, a source told the Daily Mail that Baldoni was reportedly "dismissive" of Lively's suggestions about scenes depicting domestic violence. He was also accused of behaving in a "borderline chauvinistic" manner on set. While the 'Jane the Virgin' star did not comment on the alleged feud when asked about it in an interview, he did say that Lively should direct the next movie in the series.

5. Kjersti Flaa accuses Blake Lively of uncomfortable interview

Recently, veteran journalist Kjersti Flaa shared that a painful interview with Blake Lively in 2016 almost made her quit her job as an interviewer. She recently posted a clip of the interview on YouTube titled "The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job" Lively and her co-star Parker Posey sat down with Flaa in 2016 to talk about their movie 'Cafe Society'. However, the interview did not go as planned, as the conversation became tense when the journalist congratulated Lively on her second pregnancy. When Flaa said, "First of all, congrats on your little bump," Lively shot back, "Congrats on your little bump." When Parker pointed her butt at the camera and asked, "What about my bump?" the two actresses began joking about their various "bumps" and Flaa was left flabbergasted. Later, when the journalist asked Lively whether she liked wearing old-school clothes as the film was a period drama depicting the 1930s, Lively replied, "Everyone wants to talk about the clothes but I wonder if they would ask the men about the clothes." Flaa, however, promised, "I would." The interview went on for another few minutes when Lively and Parker barely looked at the interviewer. Flaa recently posted the clip on her YouTube and wrote in the caption, "Sitting down with Blake Lively and her co-star Parker Posey for Cafe Society is the most uncomfortable interview situation I have ever experienced," before adding, "Is it not OK to congratulate someone on their pregnancy or to ask another woman about costumes she is wearing in a film?" For this behavior too, Lively received immense backlash from the social media users.