‘I love Ryan’: After meeting Blake Lively twice, a ‘Hacks’ star reveals whether or not she ever wants to see her again

In case you’ve made the impeccably wise decision not to follow the celebrity drama circuit in the last month or so, Blake Lively isn’t doing so hot in the public eye at the moment. Indeed, the It Ends with Us star drew some heavy criticism after encouraging moviegoers to “wear their florals” to the Justin Baldoni-directed film, and things only escalated when journalist Kjersti Flaa called attention to her past experience with Lively in the form of a decidedly uncomfortable interview.

Attempts to defend Lively have been shot down by the public, as though one person’s bad experience with someone’s poor behavior is capable of defining the person in their entirety. And even if Lively’s good side is only reserved for other famous people, it’s entirely bonkers to think that it doesn’t exist on some level.

And according to famous person Kaitlin Olson, who shores up the cast of the Emmy-winning comedy series Hacks, she would happily invite the company of Lively again after having met her on two separate occasions through Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds, who works closely with Olson’s husband, Rob McElhenney on their Wrexham A.F.C.-related ventures. Per Us:

I’ve met Blake twice, I would love to hang out with them both more often. I love Ryan.

To summarize, Blake Lively has a friend in Kaitlin Olson, was kind of a dirtbag towards Kjersti Flaa, interpreted her movie in a way that a lot of people didn’t agree with, and the Earth has never continued spinning more casually.

I’ve no interest in defending Lively’s poor behavior towards Kjersti with examples of endorsements from other people; I, probably like you, do not know Lively personally, and am unable to judge her character in any way that matters. Naturally, I’ve just as little interest in dubbing Lively a bad person based on said poor behavior, especially considering how entirely valid her outlook on It Ends with Us actually was; Lily Bloom’s story is one of hope and joy first and foremost, and it’s precisely that hope and joy that allows the film to handle its domestic violence themes with the care that it does.

Nevertheless, Lively has made her fair share of mistakes, has yet to own up to some of them, and has treated people in an entirely disrespectful manner. In other words, Lively is a human being, and when you’re famous, the nuances of being human are held against you far more often than someone who isn’t famous. Her being crappy is no more worthy of our emotions than anyone being crappy.

Whatever bad history Lively has with other people is the business of her and those other people, and if you have trouble sleeping at night knowing what Lively has done, maybe you should reconsider putting so much stock into celebrities who don’t know who you are.