EXCLUSIVE: Truth About Blake Lively's Mental Health Scars Over Childhood Bullying Revealed — As She Presses On With 'Harassment' Case Against Justin Baldoni
Blake Lively is haunted by the trauma of her youth.
May 26 2025, Published 11:00 a.m. ET
Blake Lively is pressing on with her claim she was harassed by Justin Baldoni – and RadarOnline.com can reveal she previosly admitted to despising bullies.
Her hatred of being picked on and victimized stretches back to the actress' childhood, when she was targeted over her body by other girls, and the experience left her traumatized for life.
Searing Honesty
Lively spoke with huge frankness in her magazine chat.
In an interview with a UK psychological magazine we uncovered amid her Baldoni battle, the 37-year-old actress said: "I was pretty shy growing up. I had problems with some of the other girls in high school. And, because I was tall, I felt insecure about standing out in a crowd when I really just wanted to disappear and be alone.
“I was kind of withdrawn and I spent a lot of time by myself lost in my own thoughts.
"It wasn't until I began taking acting classes that I was able to overcome my shyness in social situations. When I was 15 or 16, I started becoming much more outgoing and enthusiastic with people.
"I had spent so much time being this strange introvert but, deep down, I was longing to have fun and be expressive."
LA native Lively landed her breakout role aged 18 in ‘chick flick’ The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
Two years later she was starring as bitchy Manhattan IT girl Serena van der Woodsen in teen-friendly TV show Gossip Girl.
Success and cash didn’t stop her being haunted by insecurities and she found the glare of showbiz swallowed her self-confidence – and Lively spent her 20s wracked again by the same self-doubt that plagued her growing up.
"As a young adult when you’re living on your own and making your own way in life you can lose that confidence, especially in this business," she said.
Lively went on: "A lot of self-doubt started to creep into my head, even though I was on a successful TV series.
"I went through so much soul searching and it took me several years to regain my confidence.
"But I also think so much of that just had to do with struggling to figure out who you are, especially in your 20s."
Lively was aged 23 and her husband of six years Reynolds was 34 when they started dating after meeting as co-stars on the set of 2010 flick Green Lantern.
The 11-year gap made no difference to Lively, who says she fell in love with him after initially becoming "best friends."
Lively credited Reynolds in the chat for transforming her life despite the actor saying he has endured a lifelong battle with anxiety and depression.
He blames his condition partly on his "complicated, fractured" relationship with his "tough" dad, who died from Parkinson's disease shortly after meeting his namesake granddaughter.
Canadian Reynolds – who has admitted to self-medicating away his depression by partying himself into oblivion until he was shocked into sobriety by pals’ overdoses – has said: "I've always had anxiety – both in the lighthearted, 'I'm anxious about this' kind of thing, and I've been to the depths of the darker end of the spectrum."
He has gushed he’s lucky to have Lively around "to keep me sane."
But six years into their marriage the couple was hit by rumors Reynolds' depression was causing a rift in their marriage – with pals saying Lively begged him to get therapy for his sudden bouts of depression, especially for the sake of their kids.
And in May last year Lively fuelled rumors they were on the rocks by unfollowing Deadpool actor Reynolds on Instagram and deleting her happy-family posts.
But in her psychology magazine chat, she insisted life could not be better with Reynolds and their kids at their home in the quiet town of Bedford, upstate New York.
Marriage Admissions
Lively insists she loves being married.
"Married life has been wonderful. Ryan and I like doing everything together," she gushed.
"(Ryan) loves helping me choose things for the house, he's interested in all types of cuisine and he says he loves everything I cook for him – he’s such a god liar!"
Lively is currently involved in a fierce legal dispute with her It Ends with Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni, 41.
In December 2024, she filed a sexual harassment complaint against the filmmaker, alleging inappropriate behavior during the film's production.
Baldoni has denied the allegations and filed a $400million defamation countersuit against Lively, Reynolds and Lively's publicist, Leslie Sloane – claiming they attempted to damage his reputation.
The case is scheduled for trial in March 2026.
Lively's legal battle has also drawn in singer Taylor Swift, 35, a close friend of Lively and godmother to her children.
Baldoni's legal team alleges Lively's attorneys attempted to coerce Swift into publicly supporting Lively by threatening to release private text messages.
Legal Fight
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After Lively filed her lawsuit, Baldoni countersued her and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
Lively's lawyer, Mike Gottlieb, has denied the claims, calling them "categorically false."
Amid the ongoing legal proceedings, Lively continues to focus on her family and career.
And in the psychology mag chat we uncovered as she gets set to take on Baldoni in court, she reflected on her personal growth, saying: "I am much less inhibited and more open with people than I was when I was younger. Acting did that for me."
One of Lively's more recent films The Rhythm Section saw her play a woman seeking revenge after her family's death in a plane crash, requiring massive preparation.
She said: "I did ride-alongs with police on drugs busts and spent a lot of time walking through alleyways talking to addicts, some of whom were just teenagers. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do."
But Lively's past shyness and natural suspicion of people is still with her.
"I am much less inhibited and more open with people than I was when I was younger," she said in her chat about the state of her mental health.
"Acting did that for me. But I’m still slow to make friends. I'm not the type of person who meets someone, and, after a few minutes, I want to exchange phone numbers. It takes me some time to feel comfortable with someone."
But revealing her secret love of delving into a bleak headspace, she added: "I get to project myself into all these dark spaces and indulge in a lot of heavy psychological states – that's what I love about acting."
