Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were once the golden Hollywood couple and could seemingly do no wrong. But that hasn’t been the case for a while now…
On Saturday, March 28th, the Gossip Girl alum shared a carousel of pictures of herself and the Deadpool & Wolverine actor taken during their recent trip to the U.K.; particularly at Wrexham AFC, the football club Reynolds co-owns.
While the post, which featured some cute PDA pictures of the two of them gazing at each other lovingly, appeared light-hearted on the surface, many social media users were quick to criticize it as “cringe,” “inauthentic,” and out of touch. Many social media uders accused her of attempting to distract people from her ongoing legal battle with It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni, which recently took a major turn in his favor.
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Blake Lively Posts PDA Pictures On Instagram
The Another Simple Favor actress captioned her post: "So grateful for the best week with my loved ones. Thank you @wrexham_afc and all the players and everyone who works at that stadium for the performance of a lifetime. The greatest 10,000 people to share an emotional roller coaster with is in Wrexham *shout out to everyone (like my sweet sister in slide 10) who thinks someone is taking a photo of their cute outfit, when it's really a video."
The first picture in the carousel showed Blake and Ryan gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. The fifth was another selfie of the pair smiling at Wrexham, with Blake wearing a light denim jacket, while the twelfth featured a full-length shot of them standing on the field and smiling for the camera.
Other pictures showed Blake wearing a brown coat and a falconry glove – but instead of holding a bird, she was clutching a Chanel bag, which she claimed in her caption she didn't realize she was holding. Naturally, social media had plenty of thoughts about that comment!
Another snap showed her taking a picture of her husband, whom she referred to as her "crush," while other pictures were mirror selfies showing off her outfits, as well as pictures with friends and family members.
Blake Lively Limits Instagram Comments Amid Lawsuit Updates
Perhaps anticipating backlash, the Age of Adaline actress interestingly limited the comments on the post – something critics were quick to point out. Much like their previous selfies, many users accused the couple of trying to distract from the ongoing It Ends With Us legal drama, which is seemingly still far from over.
Lively is currently facing intense scrutiny amid her legal battle with Baldoni. In a major development this week, Judge Lewis Liman dismissed the majority of her claims in the harassment lawsuit, with just three of the original 13 set to proceed to trial. Click here for all the latest details.
Despite the setback, Lively has pledged to continue pursuing the case. The ruling is widely seen as a boost for Baldoni's position, further intensifying public and media scrutiny surrounding the dispute. With the case still ongoing, critics argue that Lively's latest string of loved-up selfies with Reynolds appears carefully timed to divert attention from the negative headlines surrounding the legal battle.
Social Media Reactions
Many social media users accused Lively of carefully timing the Instagram post to shift attention away from the past and future legal headlines, while others focused on her fashion choices, among other things.
"Right on schedule…" quipped one Reddit user. "It seems that anytime Blake has bad news, she's active on SM," wrote a second. "She needs the PR articles to be written about this to change SEO and conversations about the court losses. So predictable," slammed a third.
"Shout out to those who called it!" exclaimed a fourth, as a fifth noted: "Not so positive headlines in mainstream media = cringe Instagram post from BL." "She's so predictable!" concurred a sixth.
And then came the criticism for her fashion, with a seventh saying: "Blake Lively is always, always, always selling something or pointing out a designer item when she posts. It is so tacky and distasteful." "She just gets more and more unlikable," wrote an eighth. A ninth criticized: "'Didn't realize I was holding my purse' has huge 'I'm not a model, the camera just turned on by itself' energy—except weirder."
"If this ain't her most pathetic call for attention yet. Yikes. Gurl. Read the room," slammed a tenth, as an eleventh said she was "so cringe and try-hard." "I noticed there were only 32 comments, all positive, so that felt… inauthentic," observed a twelfth, as a thirteenth echoed: "She has comments limited on her posts these days. I wonder why." "Still tone deaf as [expletive,]" concluded a fourteenth, as a fifteenth thought the whole post was "attention-seeking."
