Taylor Swift has always been very public about her close female friendships, and one of her longest lasting is with actress Blake Lively. At this point, Lively is definitely in the Eras tour star’s inner circle. But how did they even meet and become such great friends?
The first volley was made by Lively in 2015, who shared a photo from a L’Oreal campaign referencing Swift’s “Bad Blood” music video, which was itself a who’s who of Swift’s girl squad at the time. The ad featured Lively and a number of other stars, including John Legend, and the Gossip Girl star joked that Legend should consider a cover of Swift’s hit. Fans suggested that Lively was throwing shade, but she clarified she wasn’t in a now-deleted Instagram post featuring a photo of husband Ryan Reynolds and his family backstage at a Swift concert.
“Umm whoever thought I was throwin’ shade clearly doesn’t know I have a ‘Taylor Swift Please Be My Wife Voo Doo Doll,’” she wrote in the caption. “Look how rad she is here making my niece Heather feel like a rock star. Love my Canadian family almost as much as I love Taylor Lively. I mean Swift. Ok, FIIINE we can hyphenate our last names. Xo Blake Swift-Lively 4eva.”
The moment caught Swift’s attention, and Lively’s “magic” spell worked. They started hanging out in person and have become true friends. Here’s their complete history.
December 2015
Some of Swift and Lively’s older posts documenting their friendship have been deleted, but People recorded the definitive moment when they shared pictures in early December 2015 from a trip to Australia, visiting the Warner Bros. Movie World theme park in Queensland. In one photo they’re jumping up into the air simultaneously for the camera.
July 2016
In 2016, Swift held her famous Fourth of July party that was attended by her squad, Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and Swift’s flame at the time, Tom Hiddleston. Swift’s childhood friend Britany LaManna shared a picture of Reynolds and Lively snuggling next to Swift and Hiddleston, but it has been deleted.
December 2016
A day after Swift’s 27th birthday, Lively shared a selfie of herself with Swift on Instagram, and captioned it, “People Who I Not Only Really Love, But Also Really LIKE, That Were Born Yesterday: Part 1 of 2.🎈 @taylorswift you know how I feel. 💜”
November 2017
In 2017, Swift released her hit album Reputation. On the track “Gorgeous,” Lively’s daughter James can be briefly heard.
July 2018
In July of the following year, Reynolds and Lively attended Swift’s concert in Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts. They were filmed in the VIP section flipping out as they heard their daughter’s voice.
“We were very embarrassing,” Lively told Good Morning America of the viral moment. “That is the true, unfiltered version of our terrible stage-parent pride.”
January 2019
Lively attended Swift’s 2019 costume party where the theme was everyone dressing up as their childhood heroes. She was dressed as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, while Swift wore an Ariel costume from The Little Mermaid. In the last photo of the carousel, Reynolds and Swift take swigs from his Aviation brand gin.
December 2019
Lively and Reynolds made an appearance at the singer’s 30th birthday party in New York City, sharing a smooch in a picture there.
July 2020
Lively and Reynolds’s kids made an appearance on Swift’s surprise 2020 Folklore album, but only by name. James, Inez, and Betty are all mentioned in the song “Betty.” (Swift publicly revealed Betty’s name in the song.) In her acceptance speech, she thanked all her “collaborators,” especially “James, Inez, and Betty and their parents…[They] are the second and third people that I play every new song that I write.”
The first was Joe Alwyn, her then-boyfriend.
December 2020
Lively wished Swift a happy birthday in 2020, sharing that it was a difficult year, but her friend brought some joy to it.
“There was happiness because of you♥️ Happy happy birthday,” she wrote in the caption. “Thank you for #Evermore Absolutely nothing better than getting presents on other people’s birthdays. 🎈 love you.”
October 2021
Swift spent Halloween 2021 with Lively and Reynolds in New York, and went trick-or-treating with their kids dressed as a squirrel. Lively was Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction.
November 2021
Lively and Reynolds attended Saturday Night Live on Nov. 13, 2021, when Swift was the musical guest.
This was the night when it’s believed the close friends started dropping Easter eggs for Swift’s upcoming music video for “I Bet You Think About Me” from Red (Taylor’s Version), because Lively was wearing a heart-shaped ring that later was seen in the video. They were right, because it was released on November 15 and was directed by Lively. It was Lively’s directorial debut.
Swift congratulated her friend in a TikTok.
February 2022
The ACM Awards nominated Swift and Lively for the video, and Swift wrote in an Instagram Story, “AHHHHHHH CONGRATS @blakelively, MILES AND @keleighteller!!!! BIG GROUP HUG! I loved making this video and it’s so cool to see the @acmawards nominate it for video of the year.”
June 2022
On June 11, 2022, Swift screened her 10-minute music video for All Too Well at the Beacon Theater in New York City as part of the Tribeca Festival that year and both Reynolds and Lively attended.
September 2022
Their music video was nominated for the 56th Annual CMA Awards in the music video of the year category. That same month, Lively revealed she was expecting her fourth child, and shared some photos on Instagram of herself in a bathing suit with Swift.
November 2022
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight while promoting his film Spirited, Reynolds gushed about Swift after being asked if she’d be in Deadpool 3. He said no, but she was welcome anytime.
“Are you kidding me? I would do anything for that woman. She’s a genius,” he said. He added that the whole family was “obsessed” with her album Midnights, which had been recently released.
“Oh my God, yes. All of us, whole house, I’m not kidding. I love it so much,” he said. “I do, Blake does, my daughters. We love it. Obsessed.”
At the AMAs that month, Swift won Favorite Pop Album and said in her acceptance speech, “I want to take a moment to thank someone who directed the music video ‘I Bet You Think About Me,’ my beautiful, brilliant friend, my director Blake Lively.”
April 2023
In early 2023, it was reported that Swift had split with Alwyn. On April 20, she had a girls’ night out that included Lively, Gigi Hadid, and the Haim sisters, Este, Alana, and Danielle.
May 2023
Lively brought James and Inez to Philadelphia for Swift’s Eras Tour show on May 12.
September 2023
The pair had several more girls’ nights in September, getting dinner together at Zero Bond and then meeting up with a bigger group on September 30 that included Sophie Turner and Brittany Mahomes.
Swift had become friends with Brittany after she began dating NFL player Travis Kelce, who plays for the Kansas City Chiefs with Brittany’s husband Patrick Mahomes. They all went out to Italian restaurant Emilio’s Ballato the night before watching the Chiefs take on the New York Jets in Rutherford, New Jersey.
October 2023
The next day, on October 1, Swift was joined by Lively at the game along with Reynolds and his good friend Hugh Jackman.
December 2023
In early December, both Lively and Swift attended the premiere of Beyoncé’s Renaissance film together and Lively shared some adorable photos of them dressed their best for the night.
Soon after, Swift celebrated her birthday, and Lively was by her side for the big party.
Lively also shared photos of the night, writing in the caption, “Somehow, she’s even better in real life. Happy, happy birthday to the one and only.”
August 2024
In late August, Taylor Swift threw a party at her Rhode Island beach house. Travis Kelce could be seen in photos taken at the house shared by TMZ, and both Lively and Reynolds could be seen in snaps of them sharing a kiss just outside the mansion. Lively wore floral bathing shorts over a pink bikini and Reynolds was also dressed for the pool in a pink short-sleeved shirt and baseball cap.
October 2024
In mid-October, Swift and Kelce joined Lively and Reynolds for dinner at The Corner Store in Soho. Swift was wearing a Gucci net corset in white with navy blue lace detail and a black leather skirt. On her feet were a pair of Louis Vuitton Roxy ankle boots and over her outfit she wore a Polo Ralph Lauren coat in camel.
Lively was wore a semi-sheer mesh dress in deep brown with matching fishnet tights and Valentino Soul Rockstud boots. Around her neck she wore a gold choker necklace. Reynolds was wearing a pair of blue pants with a white shirt featuring a navy collar and a zipper up the front.
On October 25, Lively and Reynolds were in New Orleans for Swift’s first Eras Tour show in town. They were seen dancing at Caesars Superdome by a fan who shared a clip online.
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.