Taylor Swift‘s star-studded end of summer party that fell on close pal Blake Lively‘s birthday weekend deeply uplifted the It Ends With Us star when she needed it most, a source exclusively tells Life & Style.
“Blake [was] trying to enjoy her birthday but she’s embarrassed by the scandal surrounding her film and all the backlash at the insensitive way she handled certain interviews in the past,” the insider reveals.
“She celebrated at Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island home which was super special and just what she needed. She really tried her best to let go of all the drama and have a good time,” the source adds.
Taylor’s party weekend at her Watch Hill, Rhode Island, mansion included her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, as well as his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany Mahomes.
The “Lavender Haze” singer was also joined by close friend Gigi Hadid and her boyfriend, actor Bradley Cooper. Blake, 37, and husband Ryan Reynolds rounded out the celebrity guest list.
The Shallows actress was Taylor’s closest friend whom she made a part of her Chiefs inner circle after she started dating Travis, 34. The Grammy winner, 34, took Blake to the 2024 Super Bowl in Las Vegas as her date to watch Travis’ team beat the San Francisco 49ers. The ladies were also joined by Brittany, 28, at a girls’ night dinner in New York City in October 2023. Blake joined Taylor and Brittany to watch the Chiefs play the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium the following day.
Blake is coming off a rough August where she saw her reputation dinged over alleged drama behind the scenes during It Ends With Us, as well as how she conducted herself in interviews when asked about the topic of domestic violence.
In a now-viral interview with journalist Jake Hamilton on August 8, Blake was accused of being flippant in her response when asked what she would say to someone if they approached her in public about domestic violence.
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“Maybe asking for, like, my address, or my phone number. Or, like, location share?! I could just location-share you and then we could …” she casually responded while sitting on a sofa with her legs curled up.
Blake continued “Are we talking logistics? Are we talking emotionally? What’s been beautiful about this movie is that, unfortunately, we all know at least someone … who have experience[d] this. The beauty of this has been to see people and to see this movie alongside women who haven’t experienced this — thank goodness — go, ‘Woah. I fell in love too.’”
The Los Angeles native gushed over wearing Britney Spears‘ iconic Versace “Butterfly” dress to the movie’s New York City premiere on August 6, while not appearing in any photos with her costar and director, Justin Baldoni. She posed alongside other cast members including Brandon Sklenar and Jenny Slate, but seemed to avoid Justin, 40.
Blake even raved rover how husband Ryan, 47, wrote a pivotal scene in the movie where her Lily and Justin’s Ryle have their first flirtatious interaction.
“The iconic rooftop scene, my husband actually wrote it. Nobody knows that, but you now,” she told E! News at the NYC premiere.
Blake added about Ryan, “We help each other. He works on everything I do. I work on everything he does. So his wins, his celebrations are mine and mine are his.”
Deal of the Day
The fact that Justin played such a minimal role in the promotion of the movie despite having such a massive part in it getting made raised alarm bells with fans. He didn’t attend the London premiere with Blake on August 8, and she did various interviews alongside Brandon, 34, instead of her leading man.
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Social media users also noticed that Blake, It Ends With Us author Colleen Hoover and other cast members unfollowed Justin on Instagram.
When Justin was asked if he would be willing to direct the second film from Colleen’s follow up novel It Starts With Us, the Jane the Virgin alum told Entertainment Tonight, “I think there are better people for that one.”
“I think Blake Lively is ready to direct. That’s what I think,” Justin curiously added on August 6.
