Blake Lively says she baked her youngest child a rather unique cake for his first birthday.
“My birthday cakes always have a little bit of a sense of humor,” the actor said in an interview with BBC Radio 2 last week. “For my baby, I just did a giant set of tits, which I feel like will haunt him for life. But, what do they want at one? He can’t declare what he wants. So, boobs!”
Lively starred in and produced the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel, “It Ends With Us,” which centers on a flower shop owner named Lily Blossom Bloom escaping a cycle of domestic violence. But her press tour promoting the film, out this month, has drawn criticism online.
Lively urged fans to “grab your friends, wear your florals” and see the violent film in an upbeat TikTok video. And she was excoriated on social media for her flippant answer when reporter Jake Hamilton asked her in an interview earlier this month what she’d tell a fan who wanted to share their personal experience with abuse.
“Like, asking for my address, or my phone number, or, like, location share? I could just location share!” Lively responded. “I’m a Virgo, so like, are we talking logistics, are we talking emotionally?”
The actor also used the press tour to cross-promote her sparkling beverage company and her hair care line, and lauded husband Ryan Reynolds for his uncredited input on the film’s screenplay. It’s all pushed Lively into damage-control mode.
Gareth Cattermole via Getty Images
The backlash continues, though, with conservative pundit Meghan McCain joining in earlier this week.
While she has some defenders, Lively’s birthday cake anecdote is being torched on social media as insensitive by the film’s core audience.
“The disconnect between Blake the person,(who I love) and the film she is promoting (DV and abuse) is a proper 360,” one fan commented on Instagram. “I’m glad Blake clearly doesn’t have first hand experience, but it’s an utter mess for people that have [some].”
“This isn’t helping her PR nightmare right now,” wrote another on X, formerly Twitter.
The actor herself said she was proud of her “amazing” birthday creation, and urged the BBC crew during her interview to come see the cake themselves.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.