Is Taylor Swift’s ‘Ruin the Friendship’ on ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ about Blake Lively?

Bad blood or coincidence?

Taylor Swift fans have been convinced that “Ruin the Friendship,” one of the engaged Grammy winner’s songs on her new album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” released on Friday, is about her ex-bestie, Blake Lively.

Several claimed the song’s title pointed to their alleged friendship breakdown amid the ongoing legal drama between Lively and her “It Ends With Us” co-star and director, Justin Baldoni.

But is the tune really about Lively?

Keep scrolling to find out!

The lyrics:

Swifties were anxiously waiting for “Ruin the Friendship” to drop, with many believing the words would give insight into the singer’s feelings about her fractured relationship with the actress. However, the lyrics in track six on Swift’s twelfth studio album are actually about a friend she wished had turned into a love interest.

“And it was not an invitation. Should’ve kissed you anyway. And it was not convenient. But your girlfriend was away. Should’ve kissed you anyway,” Swift sings in the catchy tune.

“Staying friends is safe, doesn’t mean you should,” is another lyric in the song that is clearly not about Lively.

Swift does, however, name another pal in the track — her childhood best friend, Abigail Anderson Berard.

“Abigail called with the bad news. Goodbye and we’ll never know why. It was not an invitation but I flew home anyway, with so much left to say,” the pop icon belts out. “It was not convenient, but I whispered at the grave. Should have kissed you anyway.”

Reactions from fans:

After “The Life of a Showgirl” came out, fans realized “Ruin the Friendship” is not about Lively . Instead, they theorized that Swift is singing about Lively in “CANCELLED!”, the tenth track from the album.

“dumb–s people thought ruin the friendship would be about blake whole time it’s about a crush whom you never told you liked that died,” one fan wrote on X.

“Cancelled being about Blake when everyone said ruin the friendship would be,” another fan said.

Someone else tweeted, “Everyone thinking Ruin the Friendship is about Blake and Taylor said, PLOT TWIST: I LIKE MY FRIENDS CANCELLED!”

“tiktokers foaming at the mouth thinking ruin the friendship is about blake when all this time it was about a high school crush who passed away,” a different Swiftie wrote.

“I think Cancelled is about Blake. Kind of funny since everyone thought Ruin The Friendship would be,” another tweet read.

Speculation ahead of album drop:

When the 12-song track list of “The Life of a Showgirl” dropped in August, rumors began to swirl that either “Ruin the Friendship” or the album’s tenth track, “CANCELLED!” could be about Lively.

“I am CER-TAIN that Ruin The Friendship on Taylor Swift’s new album is about Blake Lively,” one person wrote on X. “Who else thinks Ruin The Friendship and CANCELLED! are about Blake Lively👀🍿Taylor Swift…please…,” another user added.

Former “Today” co-host Billy Bush also weighed in on the Lively song speculation.

“Now that is an interesting question – I think so,” he said on his podcast “Hot Mics” at the time. “I do think that she will shade Blake Lively on her album. Why? Because Blake Lively is, after all, an ex. And she likes to talk about her exes. She’s an ex. She’s an ex bestie. Her greatest regret has nothing to do with Justin Baldoni, ruining his career, giving him anxiety for life. That’s not her regret. Her regret is falling out with Taylor Swift. Everybody wants to be in that Swiftie entourage.”

Does Taylor Swift allude to Blake Lively in “The Life of a Showgirl?”

Fans think “CANCELLED!” is about Lively.

With lyrics like “I salute you if you’re much too much to handle,” and the chorus, “It’s a good thing I like my friends cancelled. I liked them cooked in Gucci and in scandal,” Swifties might not be far off.

The Gucci mention seems to be a direct reference to Lively. The actress was named the face of Gucci’s new fragrance, Gucci Premiere, in 2012. She also appeared in a short ad film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn for the fragrance that year.

Swift also appears to reference Lively being accused of using Swift for her stardom the song.

“They stood by me before my exoneration / They believed I was innocent so I’m not here for judgement,” Swift sings. “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.”

What happened between Taylor Swift and Blake Lively?

Swift and Lively had been thick as thieves since 2015, with the international pop star even being named godmother to Blake and her husband Ryan Reynolds’ daughters.

That is, allegedly, until Swift was dragged into Lively’s “It Ends With Us” legal battle with Justin Baldoni in May, when his side sought to depose the singer. 

In Baldoni’s since-dismissed lawsuit against Lively, he claimed Swift was present for his pivotal meeting with the former “Gossip Girl” star at the NYC penthouse she shares with Reynolds about allegedly rewriting the rooftop scene in the film.

The “It Ends With Us” legal drama kicked off in December 2024, when Lively sued Baldoni, claiming he sexually harassed her while filming the movie. She also accused him of spearheading a smear campaign against her.

Baldoni, who served as her co-star and director, denied the allegations and countersued Lively, Reynolds, their publicist Leslie Sloane and Sloane’s p.r. firm, Vision PR Inc., for $400 million in January for alleged defamation and extortion.

He also accused Lively of calling Swift one of her “dragons” and referring to herself as Khaleesi from “Game of Thrones” in an alleged text conversation.

In September, Baldoni’s attorneys alleged that the “Shake It Off” hitmaker agreed to be deposed by his team, according to Manhattan federal court papers.

However, Swift’s lawyer, Douglas Baldridge, later clarified that Swift “did not agree to a deposition,” but did provide dates she would be available, in case Baldoni won a judge’s order enforcing the subpoena. 

After being dragged into the legal feud, an insider told People that Lively and Swift’s “friendship has halted” and “Taylor wants no part in this drama.”

Will Blake Lively and Taylor Swift make up before the pop star’s wedding to Travis Kelce?

It appears the bad blood isn’t just one-sided, either, as the “Another Simple Favor” actress reportedly didn’t congratulate Swift after her recent engagement to NFL star Travis Kelce.

“Blake didn’t reach out [following the engagement announcement] and isn’t going to,” a source told Daily Mail after Kelce popped the question.

“This isn’t the time. What would be the point of reaching out now? It really makes no sense. [Lively] has bigger fish to fry,” the source added, referencing the Baldoni legal battle.

The insider also claimed that Lively won’t be in Swift’s wedding.

“This is something that we would’ve talked about in the past, like what was going to happen, if she was going to be in the wedding, what that would look like. All of that. But now, it’s just silence,” they told the outlet.

“There’s no ‘will she or won’t she’ about Blake being in the wedding, because she just won’t. She knows that, and I don’t think she particularly wants to talk about that.”