The whereabouts of Kate Middleton had been the butt of a plethora of jokes of late. Now, following the Princess of Wales’ decision to share her cancer diagnosis with the world, Blake Lively has stepped forward to publicly apologise for a now tone-deaf comment she posted poking fun at the Palace photoshop scandal and thus the speculation surrounding an apparently missing Princess.
At the height of public furore, Lively shared an obviously doctored image of herself lounging by a pool and holding a can of her hard seltzer range, Betty Booze.
The Gossip Girl alum captioned her now-deleted post, “I’m so excited to share this new photo I just took today to announce our 4 new @bettybuzz & @bettybooze products! Now you know why I’ve been MIA,” joining the likes of Kim Kardashian and Stephen Colbert who also joked about Middleton’s “disappearance”. (Kardashian teased that she was “On [her] way to go find Kate” in a post of her standing next to one of her luxury cars.)
Of course, given the recent revelation about the extent of Middleton’s condition, the tone of these gags has taken a solemn turn, especially given the incessant chatter around how Middleton may have felt forced to reveal the full scope of her condition.
Acknowledging this, Lively deleted the post and shared a statement to her Instagram stories to admit her remorse for the role she played in making fun of Middleton’s recovery.
“I’m sure no one cares today but I feel like I have to acknowledge this,” Lively began. “I made a silly post around the ‘photoshop fails’ frenzy, and oh man, that post has me mortified today. I’m sorry,” she wrote.
The upcoming It Ends With Us star ended her post by claiming she’s “sending love and well wishes to all, always”. Lively didn’t explicitly name Middleton or the Royal family in any of her posts. Lively’s husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, met King Charles III back in 2022 after he and Queen Camilla paid a visit to the Welsh football team, Wrexham FC. The Deadpool star and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia actor Rob McElhenney purchased the team in early 2021. McHellenney also took a shot of whiskey with Prince William during his tour to Wales in March this year. Neither co-owners have addressed the scandal, nor Lively’s response.
With Lively the first A-lister to break her silence, it might open the floodgates for other celebrities to acknowledge their comments, too. And with the Princess asking for privacy, it’s clear no further jokes will be made at her expense anytime soon.
