Blake Lively, Taylor Swift's friendship was 'strained' before 'IEWU' drama

Blake Lively and Taylor Swift’s friendship had reportedly been going through a tough phase way before the It Ends With Us drama became public.

The 38-year-old actress and the pop superstar, 36, seemed to be drifting apart while the Gossip Girl alum was dealing with her conflicts with Justin Baldoni, and the Grammy winner was making her way through the Eras Tour.

As the texts exchange between Lively and the Opalite hitmaker reveal, the latter had a gut feeling about being a “bad friend” to Swift and checked in if everything was alright, on December 4, 2024.

Lively wrote that the Anti-Hero songstress was a “key person” who had stuck with her throughout the drama and wanted to make sure “everything is good.”

The screenshots shared with the court indicate that Swift replied in an hour, writing, “No you’re not wrong, but it’s also not a big deal.”

The Love Story singer elaborated that she was feeling “exhausted in every avenue of [her] life” and had felt a “shift” in their bond recently.

Swift shared that other than the “Justin stuff” she had felt Lively getting distant because reading her texts felt like “a mass corporate email sent to 200 employees.”

She continued, “You said the word we’ like 18 times. And it feels awful to be in any way critical of any way you process what you’ve been going through but I just kinda miss my funny, dark, normal-speaking friend who talks to me as herself, not like. A plural unit.”

Swift urged her friend to not apologise but just “come back please.”

While reports after the Baldoni lawsuit drama became public, implied that their friendship had turned bitter beyond repair, up until this point both Swift and Lively seemed adamant to work on their friendship.

However, the exchanges submitted to the court do not completely reflect the status of their friendship, and private details are still under wraps.