The drama surrounding Blake Lively’s “t-word” slur has only worsened.
If you haven’t heard, in August, X (formerly Twitter) went up in flames after a reporter posted a clipping from one of the actress’ old interviews that captured her using the word “t****y.”
The individual, who goes by the handle @joshcharles_21, wrote on the platform, “Sometimes I’ll be quietly going about my day, and then I’ll remember the time Blake Lively said this to a journalist.”
In the attached excerpt, Lively told ELLE magazine of her then-future-child plans, “I hope to have a few girls one day. If not, they’d better be t****ies. Because I have some amazing shoes and bags and stories that need to be appreciated.”
sometimes ill be quietly going about my day and then ill remember the time blake lively said this to a journalist pic.twitter.com/SIHZcrlzui
— joshua ? (@joshcharles_21) August 18, 2024
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only instance the “Gossip Girl” star had said such a thing. It also happened in a 2008 interview with multimedia publication NYLON, where she debunked allegations of a feud between her and some of her castmates.
“You read the gossip magazines, and everybody is dating everyone, everybody hates everyone, everybody’s, like, had tons of plastic surgery, and [they’re saying] we’re actually men and trannies,” Lively expressed. “I mean… it’s just like… [sigh] you don’t listen to the rumors.”
She said it again here too. The early 2000s were a terrible time for language like this, so many people casually used these words. pic.twitter.com/cK8VLH3gFN
— alli. ? (@AlliApplebum) August 18, 2024
Additionally, users dug up a 2009 conversation with Allure, which quoted the now-37-year-old saying that she often “feels like a tranny.”
“I feel like a tranny a lot of the time. They put me in six-inch heels, and I tower over every man. I’ve got this long hair and lots of clothes and makeup on,” she cited to the outlet. “I just feel really big a lot of the time, and I’m surrounded by a lot of tiny people. I feel like a man sometimes.”
The Aftermath of Blake Lively’s ‘T-Word’ Slur in the Media
Lively’s now controversial and viral statement(s) sparked an online debate about whether her use of the new-age insult was appropriate.
Some argued that it was fitting for the period, while others begged to differ, feeling it was downright offensive—even in the early-to-mid 2000s.
@AsiasTweetybird on X replied, “I’m kinda [Blake Lively’s] biggest critic/hater right now, but I must say that the word ‘tranny’ wasn’t seen as derogatory back in those days. It was just short for [transsexual].”
“There was absolutely nothing wrong with that word when she said it,“ @RedRebeccax added. “Now people are oversensitive. RuPaul even had a song with it in the title.”
The RuPaul bop in question happened to be the drag queen’s 2009 hit “Tranny Chaser“ from the New York native’s fifth album, Champion. However, not everyone was as lenient on Ms. Lively and took those “defending her“ as “condoning“ her behavior back then.
“People need to stop defending her. Yeah, it was more socially accepted to use the term at the time, but it’s not like people didn’t recognize that it was derogatory,“ @uwu_shijima responded. “People just chose to be louder than their slurs, and we don’t need to condone that.”
According to GLAAD (a renowned non-profit organization that advocates for LGBTQIA+ rights), in this day and time, the word “t****y” is “defamatory“ and “dehumanizing“ to the rainbow community. Although, during the Y2K era and even dating back to the ’80s and ’90s, society ran with terms like “she-male,” “he/she,“ and “transvestite,” they’ve been widely linked to homophobia.
Blake Lively’s Response to All of the Recent Uproar
The “t-word” receipts come amid the suspected chaos surrounding Lively’s latest film, “It Ends With Us,” a romantic drama adapted from the novel by Colleen Hoover. It was released on Aug. 9.
Reportedly, Lively and her leading man, Justin Baldoni (who also directed the blockbuster), weren’t on the same accord throughout the press run for the movie, and there was conflict on set.
Fans noticed Lively’s promotional appearances didn’t reflect the “It Ends With Us” domestic violence theme, while Baldoni made that the talking point for most of his. They’d even (seemingly) separated themselves on red carpets and failed to mention each other in interviews regarding the phenomenon. Aside from that, there’s talk of Lively’s husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, being “too involved” in the film’s creative direction, which could’ve ignited friction.
Per TMZ, insiders claimed that Baldoni asked his trainer Lively’s weight before a scene that would’ve required him to lift her in the air. When hearing about Baldoni’s remark, Lively (allegedly) felt “fat-shamed.” Sources said Lively complained about her on-screen beau “kissing her too long” in one scene, too. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Baldoni has hired a crisis PR team.
However, that isn’t the only reason Lively has headlined. At the height of the backlash from the queer folx, another journalist, Kjersti Flaa, recalled wanting to “quit her job” after a 2016 interview with Lively. In the sit-down, she was accused of being unnecessarily rude in response to Flaa’s congratulatory comment on her then-pregnancy and question about her costumes in “Café Society.”
Lively has yet to speak publicly (or directly) about the matter(s) at hand.
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