“Cancelled is about Blake lively”: Fans react as Taylor Swift seemingly defends hated female celebrities in Life of a Showgirl

Fans are speculating the intention behind Taylor Swift's newly released 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl. Among the album's 12 tracks, the song Cancelled (track 10) has sparked speculation among fans, who believe it may reference Swift's longtime friend, Blake Lively, who is currently in the spotlight due to her legal feud with her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni, whom she accused of s*xual harassment.

According to multiple outlets, the song addresses cancel culture and reflects Swift's stance on the subject.

The song opens by Taylor reflecting on how quickly criticism escalates.

"You thought that it would be OK, at first / The situation could be saved, of course / But they’d already picked out your grave and hearse / Beware the wrath of masked crusaders. Did you girl-boss too close to the sun? / Did they catch you having far too much fun?" Swift sings.

She also mentions her friends in the song singing that she likes them "cancelled / I like 'em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal," and that true friends are the "ones with matching scars."

Somewhere in the song, she also mentions that her friends "stood by me, before my exoneration" and that they believed that she was "innocent."

These lines have only fueled fan theories that the song could be referencing Swift's longtime friend Blake Lively.

"CANCELLED! is abt blake lively if u didn’t know yet," wrote one user.

CANCELLED! is abt blake lively if u didn’t know yet pic.twitter.com/C0FJerpcuV

— grayson (@tswiftbro) October 3, 2025

Many who support the theory also pointed out the contradiction between recent reports of tension between Blake Lively and Taylor Swift following Swift's involvement in Lively's lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, and the song's seemingly positive portrayal of Taylor's close friends.

Swift has been drawn into the legal dispute between the It Ends With Us stars via allegations and legal requests from Baldoni's side.

According to multiple sources, this involvement has created distance between her and Lively.

However, neither Swift nor Lively has publicly commented on their friendship.

"Taylor Swift saying f*ck everyone who said she had to drop Blake Lively and "cancelled" basically being a defender song," another user wrote.

Taylor Swift saying fuck everyone who said she had to drop Blake Lively and “cancelled” basically being a defender song pic.twitter.com/g85fAjPYsp

— j🚬 (@jul13an) October 3, 2025

"i know cancelled was written before the alleged blake lively drama but i’m taking it as taylor having blake’s back," another user wrote.

"cancelled! is a song in support of blake lively btw. for those of you who hope taylor's going to abandoned her when she's going through a s*xual harrassment lawsuit," another user noted.

Is track 6 Ruin the Friendship about Blake Lively?

Meanwhile, many other fans speculated that Ruin the Friendship track 6 from The Life of a Showgirl could be based on Blake Lively.

However, according to Page Six, the song is about Taylor Swift's high school self having a crush on a boy who already has a girlfriend.

Many internet users also suggested it's Cancelled, not Ruin the Friendship, which might reference Blake Lively.

"CANCELLED actually being about blake when people thought it would be ruin the friendship… oh tiktok "swifties" addicted to engagement step up to the mic #TaylorSwift" one user wrote.

"its pretty funny how we saw for weeks that “ruin the friendship” was gonna be a blake diss song from baldoni boy moms only for taylor to stand by her on cancelled 💀", another user said.

Amid the speculation, Swift has yet to comment on the meaning behind the songs.

Stay tuned for more updates.