There are several clues that Blake Lively was the inspiration behind Taylor Swift’s new song Cancelled! off her 12th studio album The Life of a Showgirl, which dropped on Friday.
In the chorus, the 35-year-old billionaire pop star sings about toxic friends who are more alike than not: ‘Good thing I like my friends cancelled / I like ’em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal / Like my whiskey sour / And poison thorny flowers.’
The 38-year-old Gossip Girl alum just so happened to serve as the brand ambassador for the Italian luxury fashion house’s fragrance, Gucci Première, back in 2012-2013.
Taylor’s reference to ‘whiskey sour’ could easily be about Blake’s liquor company Betty Booze, which manufactures three bourbon-infused canned cocktails including ‘Apple Ginger Sour Cherry.’
Swift’s lyric about ‘poison thorny flowers’ was likely a reference to Lively’s florist character, who owns a shop called Lily Bloom’s in her scandal-ridden movie It Ends with Us, which is at the center of her legal war against director-leading man Justin Baldoni.
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There are several clues that Blake Lively (L, pictured in 2023) was the inspiration behind Taylor Swift’s (R) new song Cancelled! off her 12th studio album The Life of a Showgirl, which drops this Friday

In the chorus, the 35-year-old billionaire pop star sings about toxic friends who are more alike than not: ‘Good thing I like my friends cancelled / I like ’em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal / Like my whiskey sour / And poison thorny flowers’
The problematic actress faced substantial backlash last year over how she and her husband Ryan Reynolds’ company Maximum Effort marketed the domestic violence drama as she cheerfully declared: ‘Grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see it!’
‘Did you girl-boss too close to the sun?’ the 14-time Grammy winner asked on her new track.
‘Did they catch you having far too much fun? / Come with me, when they see us, they’ll run / Something wicked this way comes.’
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Taylor Swift set to give evidence in battle between Lively and Baldoni
When Taylor sang about ‘At least you know exactly who your friends are / They’re the ones with matching scars’ she could’ve been referencing their rumored matching plastic surgery procedures.
In just five months, Blake will face off against Baldoni at her sexual harassment and defamation trial in Manhattan US District Court, and Swift has been begrudgingly subpoenaed but not yet deposed.
According to Justin’s attorney Bryan Freedman, Lively allegedly blackmailed the betrothed bride-to-be in February by threatening to release nine years of private text messages if she didn’t issue a statement of support amid her legal war.
‘Did you make a joke only a man could? Were you just too smug for your own good?’ Taylor sang.
‘Or bring a tiny violin to a knife fight? Baby, that all ends tonight.’
The Another Simple Favor actress previously claimed Swift was involved in every aspect of It Ends with Us, including the casting of Isabela Ferrer and the licensing of her 2020 song My Tears Ricochet for the movie’s soundtrack.
Blake even formally thanked the Pennsylvania-born belter and her brother Austin Swift within the end credits.

The 38-year-old Gossip Girl alum just so happened to serve as the brand ambassador for the Italian luxury fashion house’s fragrance, Gucci Première, back in 2012-2013

Taylor’s reference to ‘whiskey sour’ could easily be about Blake’s liquor company Betty Booze, which manufactures three bourbon-infused canned cocktails including ‘Apple Ginger Sour Cherry’ (pictured in 2023)

Swift’s lyric about ‘poison thorny flowers’ was likely a reference to Lively’s florist character, who owns a shop called Lily Bloom’s in her scandal-ridden movie It Ends with Us, which is at the center of her legal war against director-leading man Justin Baldoni

The problematic actress faced substantial backlash last year over how she and her husband Ryan Reynolds’ company Maximum Effort marketed the domestic violence drama as she cheerfully declared: ‘Grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see it!’

‘Did you girl-boss too close to the sun?’ the 14-time Grammy winner asked. ‘Did they catch you having far too much fun? / Come with me, when they see us, they’ll run / Something wicked this way comes’ (pictured in 2024)


When Taylor sang about ‘At least you know exactly who your friends are / They’re the ones with matching scars’ she could’ve been referencing their rumored matching plastic surgery procedures

In just five months, Blake will face off against Baldoni (M, pictured in 2024) at her sexual harassment and defamation trial in Manhattan US District Court, and Swift has been begrudgingly subpoenaed but not yet deposed

According to Justin’s attorney Bryan Freedman (pictured February 3), Lively allegedly blackmailed the betrothed bride-to-be in February by threatening to release nine years of private text messages if she didn’t issue a statement of support amid her legal war
‘I mean, honestly, she was with me on this experience the whole time, all throughout it, so she really lived this with me,’ Lively alleged during a post-screening Q&A last year.
‘She’s a person who shows up for you, and I’m so grateful to have that love and support.’
But in May, Taylor’s rep told DailyMail.com of her subpoena: ‘Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film.
‘She never saw an edit or made any notes on the film, she did not even see It Ends With Us until weeks after its public release, and was traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history.’
The statement concluded: ‘Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.’
The Valley Girl and Swift have not been publicly pictured together since their double date with their respective spouses at The Corner Store in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood on October 11, 2024.
At this point, it’s unclear if the How Does It End singer even remains a ‘godmother’ to three of Blake’s four children as she also reportedly made her half-sister Robin Lively and her Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants castmates her kids’ godmothers too.

‘Did you make a joke only a man could? Were you just too smug for your own good?’ Taylor sang. ‘Or bring a tiny violin to a knife fight? Baby, that all ends tonight’ (pictured in 2023)

The Another Simple Favor actress previously claimed Swift was involved in every aspect of It Ends with Us, including the casting of Isabela Ferrer and the licensing of her 2020 song My Tears Ricochet for the movie’s soundtrack (pictured in 2023)

But in May, the Pennsylvania-born belter’s rep told DailyMail.com of her subpoena: ‘Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film, she did not even see It Ends With Us until weeks after its public release’ (pictured in 2024)


However, Taylor and Blake have not been publicly pictured together since their double date with their respective spouses at The Corner Store in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood on October 11, 2024

At this point, it’s unclear if Swift even remains a ‘godmother’ to three of Lively’s four children as she also reportedly made her half-sister Robin Lively and her Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants castmates her kids’ godmothers too

Another sign that the How Does It End singer is over the Valley Girl was the fact that the only featured guest on The Life of a Showgirl is her pop protégée Sabrina Carpenter (R, pictured in 2019), who had nothing but glowing things to say about being directed by Baldoni (L) in the 2020 Disney+ musical drama Clouds
!['Every single song is on this album for hundreds of reasons. It is just right,' Taylor said on her fiancé Travis Kelce's podcast New Heights August 11. 'This album isn't really about what happened to me onstage [during my 149-date Eras Tour]. It's about what I was going through offstage. This, to me, tells more of what the actual contents lyrically of the album are'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/10/03/04/101221265-15157905-The_14_time_Grammy_winner_announced_Wednesday_on_her_boyfriend_T-a-3_1759460752311.jpg)
‘Every single song is on this album for hundreds of reasons. It is just right,’ Taylor said on her fiancé Travis Kelce’s podcast New Heights August 11. ‘This album isn’t really about what happened to me onstage [during my 149-date Eras Tour]. It’s about what I was going through offstage. This, to me, tells more of what the actual contents lyrically of the album are’

The 12-track record reunited the How Does It End singer with producers Max Martin and Shellback, who helped mastermind her albums Red (2012), 1989 (2014), and Reputation (2017)

Swift is scheduled to appear on The Graham Norton Show this Friday (pictured Wednesday), The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon next Monday, and Late Night with Seth Meyers on October 9
Another sign that Taylor is over Lively was the fact that the only featured guest on The Life of a Showgirl is her pop protégée Sabrina Carpenter, who had nothing but glowing things to say about being directed by Baldoni in the 2020 Disney+ musical drama Clouds.
‘Every single song is on this album for hundreds of reasons. It is just right,’ Swift said on her fiancé Travis Kelce’s podcast New Heights August 11.
‘This album isn’t really about what happened to me onstage [during my 149-date Eras Tour]. It’s about what I was going through offstage. This, to me, tells more of what the actual contents lyrically of the album are.’
The 12-track record reunited Taylor with producers Max Martin and Shellback, who helped mastermind her albums Red (2012), 1989 (2014), and Reputation (2017).
The homeschooled millennial is scheduled to appear on The Graham Norton Show this Friday, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon next Monday, and Late Night with Seth Meyers on October 9.