No one was surprised when the internet flipped on its head during the first few hours of Taylor Swift releasing her new album, The Life of a Showgirl. But with her, it’s never just songs, there’s always a hidden meaning as Taylor is notorious for addressing her personal problems through her art. This album was no different, as she addressed several issues, including her alleged falling out with actor Blake Lively in the song ‘Cancelled!’.
Taylor keeps the fans guessing when the song starts, as the pre-chorus sounds like the singer is taking sarcastic shots at Lively. The lyrics – “Did you fly too close to the sun, girlboss? Did they catch you having far too much fun?” – could be interpreted in either way, but as the song gets to the main chorus, you realise that Taylor isn’t dissing Lively; she is lauding her for standing up for herself in front of a system that is overrun by misogyny. She says, “Good thing my friend’ss cancelled. I like ’em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal,” which is a clear nod to Lively’s ties with Gucci and the online hate she has been subjected to ever since the Justin Baldoni case began.
What happened between Taylor Swift and Blake Lively?
Blake Lively has been in a legal battle with It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni since December 2024. The film was already under the gun, as it explored some problematic themes surrounding domestic violence, and everyone involved was being too callous about it. The other shoe fell when Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, stating that he created a hostile environment while shooting the film.
Several lawsuits and PR nightmares later, Taylor got involved in the whole thing. Lively had stated that the singer was told about Baldoni’s on set behaviour. This led to Baldoni’s legal team subpoenaing the text messages exchanged between the two friends. While the initial attempt was shot down by Taylor’s lawyers, the judge presiding over the case decided to include the messages in the discovery. It was reported that Baldoni even accused Lively of threatening Taylor and telling the singer that her private text messages would be leaked if she didn’t show support publicly.
This whole episode took another turn recently when a man was caught trying to enter Taylor’s fiancé Travis Kelce’s house. He wanted to serve her deposition papers, as the singer’s legal team are continuing their stance of her not having to do anything with the case or the controversy.
After Taylor announced the release of her album on Instagram, many tabloids across the world reported that Lively initially liked the post. However, there is no ‘like’ by Lively on the announcement post now. Another misconstrued fact that seems to be making the rounds is that the track ‘Ruin The Friendship’ is about Lively. On the contrary, the song is about Taylor’s high school days and the regret she holds for not ‘ruining’ her friendship with a friend she had a crush on. While the singer doesn’t specifically take his name, she did lose a close school friend, Jeff Lang, in her early 20s, whom she has talked about on previous occasions.
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Taylor and Blake have been friends for many years, and Taylor is also the godparent to Blake and Ryan Reynolds’ four children.
