Inside Ryan Reynolds & Blake Lively's Relationship With Taylor Swift's Exes
Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and Taylor Swift are a close trio, so it only makes sense that the "Green Lantern" co-stars-turned-everyone's-favorite-Hollywood-couple have got to know many of the "Fortnight" singer's love interests over the years, from Joe Alwyn to Matty Healy and Tom Hiddleston. However, it's pretty clear they're team TayTay no matter what — and in the wake of Swift's breakups, they've always stuck by her side.
That Lively and Reynolds have taken Swift's side in breakups isn't exactly surprising. After all, their relationship goes way back, and they've certainly hinted at being incredibly close. For starters, there was Swift's 2021 Grammys acceptance speech for the album of the year, which saw her reveal that after Alwyn, who was her boyfriend at the time, the couple were always the next people she'd play new music for. Then, there was the time Reynolds joked about his and Lively's kids not knowing what their "aunt" did for a living. As he revealed in an episode of SiriusXM's "The Jess Cagle Show," until they'd made the connection about who she was, "They saw Taylor as just ... like, an aunt. Like a friend of Mommy and Daddy that's very, very close, almost family."
In light of that, it makes sense that Lively and Reynolds don't stay particularly cozy with any of Swift's exes, even if they'd gotten close to the ex-partner in question.
Ryan had a falling out of his own with Jake Gyllenhaal
This one is a little on the awkward side since Ryan Reynolds actually had a friendship with Jake Gyllenhaal outside of his relationship with Taylor Swift. The actors worked together in the 2017 film "Life," and Reynolds wasn't shy to discuss just how close they got while making it. Gushing over their bond to "Good Morning America," he even joked that Gyllenhaal was one of the few people he actually kept spending time with after filming on a project had wrapped. He also shared that he admired him as an actor — and a cook. In fact, he went so far as quipping that Gyllenhaal may be a better cook than Lively.
Unfortunately, it seems their friendship wasn't to last, but we're not convinced Swift had anything to do with it. Despite Gyllenhaal writing an essay for Variety, gushing over Reynolds' commitment to his family, a 2023 Radar report noted that Gyllenhaal's continued bachelorhood had put a strain on their relationship.
Of course, not long before news of their friendship taking a turn had emerged, Swift released "Red (Taylor's Version)," and the songs "All Too Well" and "I Bet You Think About Me" were rumored to be about Gyllenhaal. Plus, in 2022, Reynolds had told ET of Swift, "I would do anything for that woman." Excommunicate a friend you were on the outs with already, maybe? Questions, questions.
Blake might also have had beef with Jake
If the end of Ryan Reynolds' relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal is a little mysterious, Blake Lively's certainly isn't. Quite the contrary, her own stance on Taylor Swift's past relationship with Gyllenhaal seems to be firmly pro-Swift. Once again, we refer to "Red (Taylor's Version)."
Lively famously directed the music video for one of Swift's songs from the album, "I Bet You Think About Me." ICYMI, said music video had a ton of not-so-subtle clues that it was aimed at Swift's relationship with Gyllenhaal. Talk about drawing a line in the sand about where you stand. It's still TBD whether Reynold's prior joke about Gyllenhaal's cooking beating hers had anything to do added to any tension.
Of course, it is worth noting that Gyllenhaal has since spoken out about the album in general, and even hinted that he didn't believe any of it was about him. As he said in an interview with Esquire, "It has nothing to do with me. It's about her relationship with her fans." It also bears mentioning that even if there had been shade thrown his way, he understood it from a creative perspective. "Artists tap into personal experiences for inspiration, and I don't begrudge anyone that," he told the outlet. Perhaps that means he wouldn't have taken Lively's involvement personally, either.
We're not sure where they stand with Tom Hiddleston
Onto the n[ex]t: Tom Hiddleston. His relationship with Taylor Swift was a pretty short one, and there have even been rumors that they only used one another for fame. Granted, Hiddleston has denied that outright, telling GQ, "Of course it was real."
Either way, during the brief few months that they were an item, Hiddleston hung out with Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively. In fact, their hangout became major celebrity news when a pic of Swift on Hiddleston's lap, Lively on Reynolds' lap, and another couple in the same pose went viral. However, one thing that stuck out was Reynolds' facial expression. Unlike everyone else in the shot, Reynolds looked fairly morbid, staring off into middle distance.
Asked about it by Entertainment Weekly, Reynolds later brushed it off, joking, "If I'm not aware a photo is being taken, my natural resting face is one of a man dying. I had no idea somebody was taking a photo. Therefore I was resting comfortably in my persona of a man whose soul is visibly exiting this earth." Not a signifier that he didn't think the relationship would go the distance, then? Perhaps we're just reading too much into it. That said, neither Reynolds nor Lively have been spotted hanging out with Hiddleston since he and Swift went their separate ways.
Ryan was close with Joe Alwyn, pre-split
Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn were together for a whopping six years before they parted ways. It only makes sense, then, that in the time they were together, they spent a fair amount of time with Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds — and it seems the latter got pretty close to Alwyn.
So close to Alwyn was Reynolds, that it was the "Red Notice" actor who wrote a piece about him for Time's 2022 Time100 Next list. In the essay, Reynolds praised Alwyn as an up-and-coming actor, noting that he was incredibly versatile as a performer. However, he also spoke of Alwyn on a personal level, and that's where their tight bond became crystal clear. In addition to pointing out that his knowing him for years meant he really knew his character at that point, he gave a little insight into it. "It's imperative I mention his kindness, his generosity, and humanity," he wrote.
That was prior to the breakup. A few months after the sweet tribute, there were clues that Reynolds no longer felt quite as enamored with Alwyn. Namely, as was pointed out by eagle-eyed social media users, soon after being photographed at a dinner with Lively and the newly single Swift, Reynolds was notably absent from Alwyn's Instagram followers list. Oops, talk about a 180.
Ryan posted a cryptic IG story about Matty Healy
Taylor Swift and Matty Healy sparked dating rumors soon after the latter's split from Joe Alwyn — lke, super fast. In fact, in a cryptic Instagram story, Ryan Reynolds seemed to throw a little playful shade at just how quickly their relationship began.
As was reported by Page Six at the time, Reynolds shared a snap of himself to his stories, with a simple add-on text saying, "Zoom Zoom." Text wasn't the only add-on he used, though. He also selected a song by Matty Healy's band, The 1975. Given the timeline of the relationship, there's a good chance the actor was poking fun at how fast his friend was moving on. Of course, Alwyn has never stopped following the "The Hitman's Bodyguard" star on Instagram, so possibly he was sending a subtle message to him, too — though Reynolds' brand of social media trolling is generally pretty lighthearted, so we doubt it.
Outside of Reynolds' cryptic story, it seemed as though Blake Lively got on pretty well with Healy. Case in point: she was spotted hanging out with him as they watched one of Swift's concerts, and all signs pointed to them getting along like a house on fire. That said, now that their short-lived fling is over, we're not expecting to see more of that. After all, if there's one thing we know about Reynolds and Lively, it's that they've got Swift's back, all the way.