Blake Lively ’s recent fall from grace has been dramatic. And the latest hit to her reputation has come from resurfaced interviews in which she used a transphobic slur , not once, but – at least – three times. In a resurfaced 2008 Nylon interview with Gossip Girl co-star Leighton Meester, she said: ‘If you read the gossip magazines, everybody is dating everyone, everybody hates everyone, everybody has had tonnes of plastic surgery and they’re actually men and trannies .
’ Then in a 2009 interview with Allure Magazine, she said: ‘I feel like a tranny a lot of the time. I don’t know, I’m ..
. large? ..
. I feel like a man sometimes.’ And finally, in an interview with Elle Magazine in 2012, she said: ‘I hope to have a few girls one day.
If not girls, they’d better be trannies. Because I have some amazing shoes and bags and stories that need to be appreciated.’ As a trans woman, I believe that it’s obviously unacceptable to use slurs like that, especially because she seems to be saying it quite flippantly without realising the weight behind it.
However, I also recognise that that was a long time ago and views about trans people were different. Still, it’s clear now that one thing needs to happen. She must apologise – and this can be a moment of learning for all of us.
I believe that Blake’s resurfaced comments are interesting to delve into because they reveal certain views that people held at the time – and some which are still relevant to today�.