Blake Lively needs to apologise for repeatedly using this transphobic slur-Ugla Stefanía Kristjönudóttir Jónsdóttir-Entertainment – Metro

She used a transphobic slur, not once, but – at least – three times (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

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.

This 36-year-old actress is an incredibly beautiful, feminine and privileged woman (Picture: NILS MEILVANG/RITZAU SCANPIX/EPA)

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’s debates around trans people.

To me, the 2012 Elle Magazine quote about wanting daughters or ‘trannies’ so that she can hand down her shoe and bag collection is probably one of the least offensive ones – albeit insensitive and very stereotypical.

It’s the 2009 Allure interview that I find most interesting.

The full quote is: ‘I feel like a tranny a lot of the time. I don’t know, I’m … large? They put me in six-inch heels and I tower over every man. I’ve got this long hair and lots of clothes and makeup on … I just feel really big a lot of the time, and I’m surrounded by a lot of tiny people. I feel like a man sometimes.’

In recent years, there has been a hyperfocus on trans women in particular where they are scrutinised and pulled apart if they don’t look feminine enough.

But it has also meant that all women are being targeted. The most high profile case has been Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who recently won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

She became the victim of a vicious, toxic and horrendous online campaign where people made all sorts of claims about her life, her looks and her body. In my view, they have not cared at all about the impact this will have on her and her family for the rest of their lives. 

Many of my friends who are butch lesbians have also noticed an increase in the way that they are treated in society, where people make comments about their appearance or mistake them for men simply because they are more masculine in their presentation.

Imane Khelif became the victim of a vicious, toxic and horrendous online campaign (Picture: Aytac Unal/Anadolu via Getty Images)

I certainly know this from first-hand experience, as I’ve noticed a real increase in strangers on social media sharing photos of me where they focus on certain body parts or features of mine and claim those are ‘clearly male’.

Of course, this is a ridiculous notion to me personally as I know that I look very stereotypically feminine in every aspect and pass as a woman in every social situation. In my everyday life, people don’t know that I’m trans unless told. 

But the comments in Blake’s 2009 interview goes to show that this standard of femininity is nothing new and women – whether trans or not – have always been held to impossible standards. 

This 36-year-old actress is an incredibly beautiful, feminine and privileged woman, so her comments come across as really insensitive to gender non-conforming women or trans women who are constantly harassed for the way that they present and look.

She will never really know what it’s like to truly experience the amount of hatred and abuse trans people face for it.

As for the 2008 Nylon interview that sees Blake listing off a bunch of rumours in gossip magazines, like that ‘everybody has had tonnes of plastic surgery and they’re actually men and trannies’, the comment reveals how women are equated with men for having plastic surgery – which they are no doubt doing to try and fulfil certain beauty standards.

In my everyday life, people don’t know that I’m trans unless told (Picture: Ugla Stefania Kristjonudottir Jonsdottir)

The irony here is that it appears literally impossible for women to please society, and that they will get criticised no matter what.

At the end of the day, I must reiterate that I don’t think it’s acceptable to use slurs about any group of people. People should do their best to treat each other with more kindness and empathy.

At the same time, I’m not necessarily surprised that Blake was using this slur at the time because it was actually quite common in popular culture.

The word regularly appeared on big TV shows like Sex and the City, Law & Order, Saturday Night Live and more – where it was deemed acceptable to use, and the connotations weren’t necessarily always as offensive as they are now. 

So while I certainly don’t approve of her using the slur, I think it’s also important to understand the context at that particular point in time. If you look at the context in which Blake uses the slur, she isn’t necessarily doing it to demean or trash trans people.

As always, conversations around resurfaced offensive comments need to be nuanced.

I don’t know what Blake’s views are now about the transphobic comments she’s made in the past, but it’s clear she has a lot to make up for.

She has a chance to acknowledge, apologise and set a good example by addressing this – and I for one am all for people taking accountability. They should be given grace and forgiveness if they really mean it. 

People need to be able to learn from their mistakes and grow – that’s how she can be a role model for others who might have done the same.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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