Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl album just dropped, and fans are convinced the song “Cancelled!” is about her friendship with actress Blake Lively.
Swifties initially theorized that “Ruin the Friendship” a song on her 12th studio album, referenced a fallout with Lively. However, many now believe “Cancelled!” points more directly to the drama involving the Gossip Girl alum and her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni.
Last month, People reported that Swift and Lively were “not in communication” after their longtime friendship came under scrutiny. Swift’s name had been pulled into Lively’s ongoing legal battle with Baldoni, which began in December 2024. A source told People, “Taylor and Blake aren’t speaking.” The two have been friends since 2014.
In December 2024, Lively filed a legal complaint accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and of orchestrating a smear campaign. Baldoni denied the claims and filed a countersuit that was dismissed in June.
In “Cancelled!,” Swift appears to be defending Lively against public backlash.
“Good thing I like my friends cancelled / I like ’em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal,” Swift sings, a lyric widely seen as referencing Lively, who became the face of Gucci’s Premiere fragrance in 2012.
“At least you know exactly who your friends are / They’re the ones with matching scars,” Swift sings.
“Did you girl boss too close to the sun? / Did they catch you having far too much fun?” the “Cancelled!” lyrics read. “Come with me when they see I still run / Something wicked this way comes.”
“They stood by me before my exoneration / They believed I was innocent so I’m not here for judgement. But if you can’t be good then just be better at it / Everyone’s got bodies in the attic / Or took somebody’s man / We’ll take you by the hand and soon you’ll learn the art of never getting caught.”
Fans quickly took to X to share their interpretations.
“btw, this is from Taylor said about cancelled, it’s her telling the world ‘she doesn’t cast people aside bc fans tell her she makes her own decisions’ and I don’t see her fans telling her to stop being friends with blake like,” one person wrote.
“And hmmmm #taylorswift really hates #BlakeLively but this is what she says of people’s bullsh-t cancellation attempts! Oh she is standing by her friend, any that stood by her! Songs about multiple people im sure but its a clear stance!” another wrote.
“CANCELLED! is for all of you freaks that wanted to pit Tay against Blake,” one person posted.
“Taylor Swift saying f–k everyone who said she had to drop Blake Lively and ‘cancelled’ basically being a defender song,” one X user said.
Swift’s name surfaced several times during Lively and Baldoni’s legal proceedings. In January, Baldoni’s team alleged that Swift pressured him to accept Lively’s rewrites on the movie adaptation of It Ends With Us. The complaint was later dismissed.
And in May, Baldoni’s team dropped a subpoena against Swift. At the time, her spokesperson said the subpoena was “designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.”
Swift shared a heartfelt message on Instagram to mark the release of her 12-track album on Friday.
“Tonight all these lives converge here. The mosaics of laughter and cocktails of tears. Where fraternal souls sing identical things. And it’s beautiful. It’s rapturous. It is frightening,” Swift wrote. “I can’t tell you how proud I am to share this with you, an album that just feels so right.
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