Blake Lively's Cringe Attempts To Make Ryan Reynolds Marriage Seem Perfect

There was once a time when Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ marriage was the envy of everyone, but now fans have grown skeptical of the “Gossip Girl” and “Deadpool” stars’ witty banter and boasting about their love. Lively and Reynolds have also exposed how messy their PR team is with their tasteless marriage updates, and now an expert is weighing in on their behavior. 

The Hollywood couple seemed goofy and down-to-earth while being gorgeous at the same time, which is a feat many can’t pull off. In August 2017, Reynolds posted a picture of himself and Lively with half of her face cut out of the frame and wrote, “Happy birthday to my amazing wife.” Lively got her revenge in October 2020 by sharing on her husband’s birthday, “1) Who is the lost soul that selects birthday PIE. 2) What ANIMAL eats their cake (pie) without first blowing out the candles. @vancityreynolds that’s who. Happy Birthday. I honestly can’t believe we’re still married.” Celebrity love coach and body language expert Nicole Moore exclusively told Nicki Swift there’s a reason Lively and Reynolds might feel pressured to publicly acknowledge each other’s birthdays. “If celeb couples don’t post glowing tributes to one another, it can often spark rumors that the couple is in a rocky place even if they aren’t,” she explained.

But even before becoming embroiled in a scandal with Justin Baldoni, Lively and Reynolds couldn’t hide their shady side, and it’s likely put a strain on their relationship. Still, they have maintained a united front despite all the backlash, and Lively has proven over the years just how hard she tries to make her marriage with Reynolds seem picture-perfect.

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds often troll each other on social media, but they also make sure to show fans that they’re still wildly in love after all these years. In October 2019, Lively shared a picture of her smiling against Reynolds’ chest with her finger up his nose and wrote, “I picked a good one. Happy birthday @vancityreynolds.” Lively proved again on February 14, 2022, that she and her hubs are besties with a Valentine’s Day post with the caption, “Find me a better friend. I’ll wait…”

While Lively and Reynolds may want to shout out their love for each other to the world, their mushy posts may just be a publicity stunt. Nicole Moore exclusively told us, “One of the biggest motivators for celebrity couples to post love-dovey social media tributes to one another is to maintain a positive public perception of their relationship. Fans often get very invested in their favorite celeb couples and it’s often seen as good for business if they portray an image of being couple goals.” The relationship expert stated that it’s easy to tell if a celeb’s post is genuine by how natural it feels — staged pics and meticulously scripted captions stand out from the type of content that truly happy couples post.

Moore also pointed out that relationships seem less authentic when stars post their significant others only on holidays and anniversaries or after a scandal. “In this case, the post would most likely be an attempt at managing the optics of their relationship,” she added. Both Lively and Reynolds have been quiet about each other on their respective Instagram pages since the Justin Baldoni lawsuit, which could possibly be a sign that there isn’t any trouble in paradise after all.

We all know that all couples get into spats — even Hollywood stars. However, Blake Lively has downplayed her issues with Ryan Reynolds and made it seem as if they have perfected the art of healthy discourse. In a 2017 interview with Glamour, the “Café Society” star shared that after conflicts with past boyfriends, she would seek advice from her female squad. She then bragged that she no longer has to do that now that she has Reynolds in her life. “I treat him like my girlfriend. I’m like, ‘Hey, this happened. It upset me. This is how I feel. What do I do?’ And he does the same for me. He treats me like his best buddy,” Lively stated.

It looks like Lively’s camp has made sure to keep that sentiment out there. In 2024, a source told Us Weekly, “They have their differences like any other couple, but things get resolved through open dialogue. There’s never sustained drama because they’re very quick to compromise.” Another insider revealed, “He’s kind and considerate and will surprise Blake with gifts when she’s least expecting them, and she, in turn, is everything he could’ve dreamed of 
in a partner and mother to his kids.” Sounds suspiciously like it came from their publicists.

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds seemingly can’t get enough of each other and are partners in business, as well as in life. In 2014, the “Gossip Girl” star told Vogue, “If I’m working on a movie, he helps me with my character; I do the same with him … He’s a beautiful writer–he’s written a lot of stuff for us. And he’s got a great barometer and he knows me, so he will tell me if it’s not as good as it can be.” While promoting her film “It Ends With Us,” Lively revealed to E! News that Reynolds even took over one of her scenes, creatively. “The iconic rooftop scene in this movie — my husband actually wrote it. Nobody knows that,” she shared.

It turns out that not even the original screenwriter, Christy Hall, knew of the changes and thought Lively and Justin Baldoni were just ad-libbing their lines. “Like when he says, ‘Pretty please with a cherry on top,’ and she talks about the maraschino cherries — when I saw a cut I was like, ‘Oh, that’s cute. That must have been a cute improvised thing,'” Hall recalled to Us Weekly. Despite being blindsided, she didn’t seem offended by Reynolds’ overstep and stated, “There were a few little flourishes that I did not write … and if those flourishes came from Ryan, I think that’s wonderful.” However, others in the entertainment industry aren’t quite as impressed with the couple’s dynamic — it’s a good thing they have each other, as Lively and Reynolds’ reputation in Hollywood has clearly soured.

Considering that Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were friends before becoming romantic, it’s not surprising that they say they’re each other’s besties, but they make sure to do it as often as possible. In a 2014 interview with Marie Claire, Lively shared that she and Reynolds make sure they never let a week go by without meeting up and stated, “There’s no major decision that I make without him. The best part is when we turn off our phones and just talk and hang out. He’s my best, best friend. What do you do with your best friend? You do nothing.”

Lively echoed the same sentiment again during her “It Ends With Us” press tour when she told a reporter that Reynolds still gives her flowers after being married for over 12 years (via On Demand Entertainment). “I just think the key is, marry your best friend because when there’s friendship, there’s always love, there’s always empathy, there’s always curiosity, [and] the first person you want to tell everything to,” she gushed. 

Skeptics who see the signs that Lively’s marriage to Reynolds may not last can’t help but speculate, so Lively’s best move might actually be to double down and resume sharing saccharine social media posts about their relationship to lessen the intensity of the gossip. Nicole Moore explained, “People on social media tend to view silence on a matter as an admission that something is wrong, so if a couple wants to quiet rumors of strife, posting about their relationship is generally a better way to go as long as it doesn’t seem too abrupt or when the rumors are at a fever pitch.”