Blake and Ryan are in a reputational death spiral, and they don't seem to know it.

The fundamental problem is that the public has recast them. For a decade they were America's couple — witty, self-aware, effortlessly likeable. That story is dead. The new story is entitlement, hypocrisy, and a machine that protects its own interests while performing relatability. And once that lens clicks into place, everything gets reinterpreted through it. Ryan's cheeky tweets? Calculated brand management. Blake's themed outfits? Narcissistic spectacle. The cute family stuff? A shield. That reframing is almost impossible to undo because it doesn't require new evidence — people just re-read the old evidence differently.

The contractor story could be the killshot. The Baldoni lawsuit was Hollywood drama — messy, complicated, he-said-she-said. Most people don't fully understand it. But stiffing workers for $2.1 million on your luxury vanity estate? That's visceral. That's your neighbour's builder mate not getting paid. That story has legs precisely because it's so simple. It doesn't need context or nuance. It's just: very rich people didn't pay the people who built their house. If more contractors come forward, or if the details get worse, this becomes the story that defines them for a generation.

The Met Gala was a catastrophic miscalculation. Whoever advised Blake to show up at the most exclusive, most extravagant event in fashion — on the same day she settled a sexual harassment lawsuit — has fundamentally misread the room. The message it sent wasn't "I'm back." It was "I'm untouchable and I don't care what you think." Settling the lawsuit should have been a quiet moment of closure. Instead it became a costume change. The juxtaposition is so jarring that it almost looks like contempt for the public.

Anna Wintour's protection is a poisoned chalice. Yes, having the most powerful woman in fashion personally vouch for you opens doors. But to everyone outside that world, it looks like an oligarchy circling the wagons. Normal people don't have Anna Wintour to rehabilitate them after a scandal. Every photo of Blake at Wintour's table, in borrowed Versace, surrounded by billionaires, is a visual argument that the rules don't apply to her. It deepens the exact wound they need to heal.

Anne Hathaway getting dragged into this is a warning sign. When your mere proximity becomes toxic to other people's reputations, you've crossed a threshold. Hathaway posed for one photo and the internet turned on her. That means Blake's brand isn't just damaged — it's contagious. Publicists will notice. Co-stars will notice. Studios will notice. The circle gets smaller, and as the circle shrinks, the desperation gets louder, and the desperation makes everything worse.

Ryan's silence is eroding his own brand. He didn't attend the Met Gala. He's been conspicuously quiet. The public reads that two ways — either he's distancing himself (which invites marriage speculation and makes Blake look even more isolated) or he's complicit but hiding (which makes him look cowardly). There's no neutral position for him anymore. Every day he says nothing, the question "where's Ryan in all this?" gets louder.

The fundamental strategic failure is that they're playing a status game when they need to be playing a sympathy game. Every move they've made in the last six months — the Wintour alliance, the Met Gala entrance, the Versace gown, the power table — is about demonstrating that they still have access, influence, and position. But the public isn't questioning whether they're powerful. The public is questioning whether they're good people. Those are completely different problems, and the answer to one makes the other worse.

The path back exists, but the window is closing rapidly. Public memory is short, and forgiveness is available to almost anyone who genuinely earns it. But every misstep burns goodwill that doesn't regenerate. If the contractor story escalates, if another co-star or employee comes forward with a bad experience, if the next PR move is another tone-deaf display of wealth and access — they risk crossing the point of no return, where the public simply decides they don't like these people and moves on permanently.

The scariest thing for them should be this: the internet isn't angry anymore. It's amused. Anger fades. Mockery is forever.

Found in this YT Video.

What Ryan said in regards to the AD being fired

Ryans Version

Blakes reason in the PGA application letter.

Blake Lively lying again

Free for your viewing here

A Fendi bag was a mainstay on the crook of Serena van der Woodsen’s arm across the Gossip Girl series. And while Serena (played by Blake Lively) and Blair (Leighton Meester) toted many a classic Chanel and Moschino heart-shaped purse, more often than not, someone was lounging on the steps of the Met or stomping around Manhattan with that F-emblazoned Peekaboo or Baguette in tow.

In the post-Serena years, Blake Lively has established a singular sense of personal style—famously while styling herself—defined by sherbet tones and novelty accessories, textural contrasts and big shapes. That’s not a slice of pizza, that’s a handbag! Latex or tulle? Why not both! The actor and haircare brand founder is, if anything, a fashion maximalist.

But stepping out in New York last night (May 19), Lively experimented in neutrals, letting her choice of bag—a Fendi purse, obviously—take center stage. Lively attended an event celebrating a reedition of the Baguette bag at the house’s New York flagship, where she wore a cuffed and classic beige trench coat, a scoopneck black tank top, black straight-leg jeans, and pointed black mules. For accessories, a marquise diamond necklace and a black, silver-studded Fendi Baguette. Her long blonde hair was worn in undulating waves, swept over one shoulder.

Photo: Getty Images

Later, Lively was spotted exiting the event with a shopping bag, having picked up a new purse to add to her Fendi collection. Olivia Wilde, Ivy Getty, and Ella Hunt were also among the Baguette-fanatic guestlist.

Lively’s look was noticeably more pared back than what we’re used to seeing her in. It does mark one of her first public appearances in some time—save for her turn at the 2026 Met Gala in sugary sweet-toned archival Versace—following the news of the recent court settlement over It Ends With Us.

This image doesn't look staged at all - yawn.

Blake Lively doing PR again.

Manatt Secures Important Settlement for Blake Lively

Posted on their website here: https://www.manatt.com/insights/news/2026/manatt-secures-important-settlement-for-blake-lively

A Manatt team, led by Employment and Labor Leader Esra Hudson, secured a favorable and critically important settlement for Blake Lively in her case against Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios.

Lively’s claims focused on alleged retaliation and related misconduct arising after she raised concerns about inappropriate behavior during production of the film It Ends With Us. As the case progressed, the court preserved her core retaliation claims, finding that key factual questions warranted consideration by a jury. Lively’s affirmative claims were resolved in the settlement, which was announced in a joint statement of the parties. The settlement preserved one motion that is currently before the court, relating to Lively’s claims under the Weaponized Defamation Lawsuits Act, codified in California Civil Code Section 47.1, which shields individuals who speak out about sexual assault, harassment or discrimination from retaliatory defamation claims.

The motion arises from Lively’s successful defense, led by Manatt, against Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit, which the court dismissed last year. Section 47.1 imposes severe and mandatory penalties against plaintiffs, like Baldoni and the other Wayfarer Parties, who unsuccessfully file retaliatory defamation actions against sexual harassment and retaliation complainants, like Lively. The parties agreed to submit the imposition of penalties – including attorneys’ fees and costs, treble damages and punitive damages – to the court for final and binding adjudication, as the last step in the litigation and settlement process.  

“This settlement is a resounding victory for Blake Lively. By agreeing to this settlement, and waiving their right to appeal, Justin Baldoni and every individual defendant now face personal liability for abusing the legal system to silence and intimidate Ms. Lively,” said Hudson and co-counsel Michael Gottlieb of Willkie, Farr and Gallagher. “And by admitting that Ms. Lively’s concerns ‘deserved to be heard,’ the defendants have ended once and for all the fiction that Ms. Lively ‘fabricated’ claims of sexual harassment and retaliation. From day one Blake Lively’s mission was clear: expose and hold accountable those who weaponize smear campaigns and retaliatory lawsuits to intimidate and silence survivors. That mission continues.”

The Manatt team, led by Hudson, included partners Stephanie Roeser, Sarah Moses, Matthew Bruno and Naeun Rim, and associates Sareen Armani, Katelyn Climaco, Katherine Herman, Jake Kim and Sarah Zeiger.

Learn more about the settlement here.

Blake and Ryan, et al, can GTFO with their attempt to manipulate the social narrative.

https://preview.redd.it/m9igdzw0huzg1.png?width=529&format=png&auto=webp&s=6e79425c6e282524cc096c5309c2235aeeca81ad

People keep framing Blake's problem as being unhireable by studios and directors, but that's not the whole picture, IMO.

Ryan Reynolds has enough money to bankroll something for her if it came to that. The real issue is: what actor wants to work with her now?

It's not just about unknowns being intimidated either. Even if you're an A-lister with your own established career, do you really want your name attached to a Blake Lively project? Half the audience has already made up their mind about her. Your press tour becomes about answering questions about the controversy instead of the actual film. No actress with good representation is going to sign up for that distraction when there are a hundred other projects that don't come with that baggage.

But moreover; anyone who appears with her is also unwatchable. Another Simple Favor is sitting right there on Prime and I can't bring myself to watch it. Anna Kendrick is a great actress and she deserves better than having her work become collateral damage in someone else's lawsuit.

And I realllyyyy hope some million dollar PR rehabilitation campaign doesn't quietly make everyone forget about this in two years.

At some point we need to stop rewarding these people with wealth and fame and start giving it to people who actually deserve it, like Justin Baldoni.

WDYT?

So here's my theory. Hear me out. I would love to know what you think...

Blake Lively has never earned a single thing in her life. Her dad was an actor. Her mum an acting coach. Her first movie? Directed by daddy. Gossip Girl required her to be blonde and wear clothes. That's the whole foundation. Born inside the castle, spent twenty years pretending she stormed it.

She doesn't build. She doesn't create. She steals.

She told Baldoni she was Khaleesi and Taylor and Ryan were her dragons. The delusion is staggering. Khaleesi earned her dragons. She walked through fire. She was sold, abused, exiled, and built her power from nothing. Blake got her first role from her father and married a movie star. She's not Khaleesi. She's Cersei. All power, no legitimacy. Surrounded by people who serve her out of fear not love. And she'll burn everything down before she admits she's wrong.

Watch the pattern with women.

Kjersti Flaa. A talented hard working journalist doing her job. Asked a normal question about her pregnancy. Blake humiliated her on camera with that "little bump" comment and her utter contempt and mean girl antics. Stole a working woman's dignity for fun because Flaa wasn't famous enough to matter.

Scarlett Johansson. One of the most talented (and most beautiful) actresses alive, IMO. Blake met Ryan on Green Lantern while he was still married to Scarlett. Saw what she had. Took it. Not by being better. Not by working for it.

Taylor Swift. Arguably one of the most powerful women on the planet. Self-made billionaire. No famous parents, no man opening doors. Blake can't compete so she harvests. Taylor isn't her friend. Taylor is her resource/supply, IMO. Her dragon. She deployed Taylor to manipulate Baldoni at a script meeting then texted "this clown falling for all of it." Used Taylor's music as trailer leverage. Steals her power and wears it like her own.

Margot Robbie earned Barbie through years of genuine talent and hard work. Blake watched and wanted that moment. It Ends With Us was supposed to be her Barbie. So she hijacked the edit, removed the director's credit, took over marketing. Tried to steal what Margot earned and destroyed a man because he was in her way.

Emily Baldoni. Nobody talks about this one but it's the most telling. Justin's wife is everything Blake pretends to be on Instagram but actually is in real life. Swedish, beautiful, moved to LA alone with nothing, built her career from scratch, starred in Coherence which has more critical respect than anything Blake has touched. Emily co-founded a homeless charity, built a business. Blake had to sit across from this woman's husband every day watching him cry about how much he loved Emily. Imagine that mirror. So she did what she always does. Tried to steal Justin's movie, his credit, his premiere, his career. Couldn't compete with Emily on substance so she destroyed what Emily loved most.

And the men? Baldoni was earnest, vulnerable, emotional. He cried. He sent voice notes he compared to Christmas. Texted Ryan saying he wanted to be friends like a nervous kid at school. Blake called him a donkey, a clown, a bag of hot gas. Sent him to a basement at his own premiere. Then tried to end his career.

She reserves her worst contempt for men who are soft and open (because they are more feminine?). The exact qualities a real feminist would respect. She exploits them instead.

Blake has never built anything. Never earned anything. Never created anything that wasn't assembled from other people's talent and power.

She doesn't build. She steals. And when she can't steal she destroys.

What do you think?

I'm not a bot. I'm not a Baldoni shill. I didn't even know who he was before all this (but since reading everything, I am 100% team Baldoni). I'm a real woman in my 40s, a lawyer, with a mortgage and kids and ten thousand dollars of Taylor Swift concert ticket stubs I can't even look at anymore.

So let me be clear about what I watched happen.

I watched a group of obscenely powerful, obscenely connected people attempt to destroy a man's reputation because he didn't kiss the ring of Blake and Ryan - in her attempt to extort Justin to take control of his movie, which ended in a barely watchable production. They weaponised MY feminism as a cudgel. They used accountability language to conduct a public execution. And they smiled the entire time.

Blake Lively. I never cared about her. Mediocre actress, gorgeous face, PR team doing the heavy lifting. Fine. Whatever. But then she showed us who she actually is. I was a fan of Gossip Girl.

The Swedish journalist Flaa. "Congrats on your little bump." That smirk on Blake. She took a simple human moment and turned it into a dominance display because Flaa wasn't famous enough to matter. That's what psychopaths do. They punch down and smile while doing it.

And when many thousands of people started seeing through her? Her response wasn't accountability. It was "I'm being TARGETED."
The narcissism of that could power a city. She wasn't targeted. She was finally, momentarily, TRANSPARENT. The mask slipped. People didn't come for her. They just finally SAW her. And she couldn't take it so she wrapped herself in feminism like a human shield and expected #metoo to do the dirty work. It didn't, because like with Amber Heard, it was not just. It isn't okay.

Taylor. This one I can barely type without my hands shaking. I was THERE. From the beginning. I added up what I spent one night when I couldn't sleep and the number made me sick. Over ten thousand dollars (which is admittedly a drop in the ocean for people with this much money and power...but together with hundreds, thousands, it is a lot of money). And she used her power to attempt to help bury a man and call it girl power. She had a once-in-a-generation platform to stand for something real and she chose complicity. She became the exact thing she used to write songs about.

Colleen Hoover - never been a fan - she writes trauma like a marketing strategy. Reynolds performs likability like a man terrified you'll see what's underneath. I also think he has Peter Pan Syndrome and is generally ick. Jenny Slate, I thought she was cool prior - but now? No. She sold her integrity for a seat at the cool table. I hope to never see her on a screen again. I will NEVER watch anything she is in again.

I loathe every single one of them. Not internet-loathe. Bone deep.

But here's what should scare them: I'm not angry anymore. I'm done.

I'm a woman in my 40s with money and opinions and a circle of women just like me. We talk over wine and text chains and school pickups. We are all saying the same thing. None of us are watching. None of us are buying. None of us are coming back. We are disgusted.

Hollywood isn't losing the hate-watchers. They're losing US. The women who actually spend money and drive word of mouth.

But Justin Baldoni? I'll watch everything that man makes for the rest of his career. Not because he's a saint. But because I watched him - a talented artist - get fed into a wood chipper by people who smile for a living, and not one of those cowards said stop.

This isn't cancel culture. This is consequence. This is many thousands of women in their 30s and 40s and 50s sitting in living rooms across the world reaching the same conclusion at the same time:

And we are GONE.

Wake up Hollywood!