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Once hailed as the ultimate “It Girl,” Blake Lively continues to embody the charm of America’s sweetheart. Her journey to stardom kicked off with the film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” where her long blonde locks and vibrant personality captivated audiences, while the iconic role of Serena van der Woodsen in the immensely popular TV series “Gossip Girl” further solidified her celebrity status. While she played the girl everyone loved to hate, it seemed people couldn’t get enough of Lively in real life.

Lively’s success extended to hit movies like “Green Lantern,” “The Age of Adaline,” and “A Simple Favor,” establishing her as one of Hollywood’s prominent stars. Despite her career achievements, Lively has found herself at odds with some fellow celebrities along the way. While it doesn’t sound likely someone would hate the Blake Lively, most of the celebs who aren’t fans of hers were actually once her co-stars.

From facing accusations of diva behavior during the filming of “Gossip Girl” to being embroiled in drama over allegedly stealing another Hollywood A-lister’s man, Lively has weathered her fair share of criticism in the limelight. However, when speaking to People, the actor shared that her biggest regret is not standing up for herself more when she was younger (via Vogue). Well, according to these four celebs, Lively may have focused on herself a bit too much.

Leighton Meester reportedly resented Lively for stealing her ‘Gossip Girl’ spotlight
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Following the debut of “Gossip Girl” in 2007, everyone wanted to know whether Blake Lively and Leighton Meester were friends in real life. The pair played friends turned foes on the show, Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf, but reportedly immediately skipped to the foes part in real life. Various sources, including one of the show’s creators, revealed that Lively and Meester did not get along between takes.

In 2008, as “Gossip Girl” entered its second season, New York Magazine reported that the two actresses “avoid each other like the plague,” according to one source. The outlet also reported on a Daily News piece that hinted at the women’s strained relationship, suggesting one actor felt she was being replaced by the other as the show’s main star. Additionally, according to a Harper’s Bazaar report, Meester felt like Lively was too self-centered.

The feud narrative was somewhat confirmed by one of the show’s executive producers, Joshua Safran, in 2017. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Safran shared, “Blake and Leighton were not friends. They were friendly, but they were not friends like Serena and Blair,” citing personality differences as the primary reason. In the years following the conclusion of “Gossip Girl,” Lively and Meester were never seen together again, so it seems safe to conclude that Meester is not a fan of Lively’s.

Scarlett Johansson reportedly felt Lively stole Ryan Reynolds from her

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Before he was Blake Lively’s husband and the father of her four children, Ryan Reynolds was married to “The Avengers” star Scarlett Johansson. Reynolds and Johansson got married in September 2008 after a year of dating but, surprisingly, called it quits just two years later. Their divorce was finalized in 2011, coinciding with when Reynolds started dating Lively. Notably, Reynolds and Lively met on the set of “Green Lantern” before he had officially separated from Johansson, stirring up rumors of a potential cheating scandal.

Although both Reynolds and Johansson cited their hectic work lives as the primary reason for their split, reports suggested that Johansson believed Lively was to blame for the fallout of her marriage. “Scarlett feels like Blake actually stole Ryan from her because it was when he started shooting ‘Green Lantern’ with Blake in 2010 that everything fell apart,” a source told the National Enquirer. Additionally, in 2011, a source told Us Weekly that Johansson harbored resentment towards Lively for hindering her chances of reconciling with Reynolds.

Nevertheless, none of the parties involved ever publicly acknowledged the alleged narrative, but Johansson did admit to relating to her “Marriage Story” character, who gets cheated on. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the actor shared, “I had some kind of shared experience with the character, or with any person going through a divorce, really.” While the reported love triangle will likely never be addressed, Johansson surely isn’t one of Lively’s stans.

Armie Hammer reportedly got fired from ‘Gossip Girl’ because of Lively
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Another member of the “Gossip Girl” cast, Armie Hammer, who portrayed Gabriel Edwards, Serena van der Woodsen’s brief love interest in Season 2, openly revealed his less-than-favorable experience working on the hit series, particularly citing issues with Blake Lively. During his appearance on “Watch What Happens Live: After Show” in 2017, when asked about the biggest diva on the set, Hammer initially hesitated to answer. However, with encouragement from host Andy Cohen and comedian Chelsea Handler, he shared, “Let me just say, that was a tough show to film, and I didn’t end up actually filming all of the episodes I was supposed to because it was such a tough filming.” He also implied that someone on the set wanted him fired from the series.

After reminding Cohen that he was Lively’s potential beau in the few episodes he did film, Handler jokingly suggested that Lively might’ve been the source of the problem. While Hammer responded with, “No, no, that’s not what I’m saying,” he also made a very telling face as if he were implying the exact opposite.

Additionally, according to the popular Instagram gossip account DeuxMoi, Hammer allegedly referred to Lively as “a b**** in front of a ton of people” on the set of “Gossip Girl” (via Distractify). The insult is more likely to have led to his departure from the show than Lively’s whim.

Anna Kendrick openly stated that she hated Lively
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Anna Kendrick, who co-starred with Blake Lively in the 2018 movie “A Simple Favor,” is also rumored to not be a fan of hers. Despite their on-screen dynamic as frenemies, the women’s perceived awkwardness during interviews initially appeared humorous. However, as time passed, it started to feel like Kendrick might genuinely harbor some negative feelings toward Lively.

During an interview with BuzzFeed, the actors recounted an incident where Lively was exceptionally late to filming, while Kendrick was not informed about the schedule change and was left waiting. “That was the day I decided I hated you,” Kendrick said, leading to an awkward moment where Lively clumsily tried to justify her tardiness. “We were all talking s*** about you,” Kendrick later told her. In a conversation with Kjersti Flaa, Kendrick suggested she had muted Lively on Instagram and even told her not to touch her during an interview with MTV News, physically distancing herself.

While Kendrick is known for her quirky sense of humor, and one can hypothesize that the women’s odd relationship was just a part of the marketing campaign for “A Simple Favor,” a TikTok page posting celebrity gossip, @celebritymemoirbookclub, claimed the feud narrative was indeed true. In a video posted to the account, an insider who worked for the movie’s filming studio at the time alleged that Kendrick was overly competitive and couldn’t handle Lively receiving all the attention. Paired with her aggressive approach in interviews, Kendrick does appear to actually hate Lively.

 

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As the world reaffirms its love for Ryan Reynolds after Deadpool & Wolverine soared to critical, commercial, and viral success, it seems to have doubled down on its apparent disdain for his wife and fellow actress, Blake Lively. The former Gossip Girl star has had a long and storied career in both film and television but has also earned something of a negative reputation throughout Hollywood. Several outlets have previously claimed that some of her Gossip Girl co-stars have had beef with her.

Reportedly, Blake and co-star Leighton Meester hated each other between takes. Rumors also circulated that Armie Hammer was fired from the show because of Blake.

Based on these rumors, Blake Lively seems to have given off severe diva energy as she rose to both fame and infamy. But while she was no darling of the press, people have found even more reason to hate Blake Lively thanks to her 2024 film and a highly controversial wedding venue. Let’s break it down.

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Why do people suddenly hate Blake Lively? Between ‘It Ends With Us’ has people doubling down.

For as unpopular as Blake Lively has been among her co-stars in the past, her latest projects haven’t been free from controversy either. In 2024, she starred in It Ends With Us, a film about a woman who overcomes a childhood of domestic abuse to live her own life and find love, all while trying to avoid the pitfalls of her trauma in the process. While the film was released to middling reviews, the reaction to the film was nothing compared to the controversy surrounding Blake.

Throughout the film’s promotional run, details of the alleged feud between Blake and director Justin Baldoni came to light. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Blake had commissioned a second cut of the film to be done by Deadpool & Wolverine editor Shane Reid, suggesting stark creative differences between Blake and Justin. On that same note, their individual approaches to promoting the film have also come under scrutiny.

Moviegoers have praised Justin Baldoni for putting focus on the film’s serious subject matter, even linking to a nonprofit anti-domestic abuse charity in his Instagram bio and working closely with them while working on the film. On the other hand, Blake Lively has come under fire for using her platform on the film to promote her fashion lines and posting light-hearted content that contrasts the grim nature of the film.

Her plantation wedding has gotten renewed backlash in the 2020s.

This is far from her only problematic publicity stunt. In August 2020, both Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively issued a public apology for holding their 2012 wedding ceremony at Boone Hall Plantation, a South Carolina-based plantation that is infamous for its housing of slave labor in the 19th century.

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While the two of them share the blame for that one, Blake Lively seems to be the only one who hasn’t yet recovered from the controversy. If anything, she’s added more on top of it.

She also praised director Woody Allen … in 2016.

In 2016, Blake starred in Cafe Society, a film directed by Woody Allen. While promoting the film, she told Vanity Fair how “cool” and “empowering” she thought it was to work with him on the film.

This statement was made decades after Woody Allen largely fell out of favor in Hollywood over the sexual abuse allegations lobbied against him. While many actors have come out over the years expressing their negative experiences with working with him, Blake Lively seems to be one of the few actors to have recently expressed enthusiasm over working with such a controversial figure.