Blake Lively is reportedly optimistic about rekindling her close bond with Taylor Swift. The friendship between the actress and the singer became strained amid Lively’s lawsuit against actor Justin Baldoni.

However, with the lawsuit recently settled, Lively is said to be hopeful that the resolution could pave the way for a reconciliation with the acclaimed pop star.

It remains unclear whether Taylor Swift feels the same way, as sources claim that she still harbors some resentment and has disinvited Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, from her wedding.

In the months since Blake Lively sued Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment and other claims, both sides have endured significant fallout.

For Lively, one of the most painful consequences appears to be the strain on her once-close friendship with Taylor Swift.

Once best of buddies, the two have grown apart after Swift was name-dropped multiple times amid the drama, and have not been spotted together since.

Now that Lively and Baldoni have reached a settlement in their lawsuit, sources suggest the actress is hopeful that she and Swift can repair their friendship and regain the closeness they once shared.

“Blake genuinely believes there’s still a path back,” one insider told Rob Shuter’s “Naughty But Nice” Substack. “Now that the legal mess is over, she thinks the hardest part is behind her, and there’s real hope they can move forward.”

Blake Lively Is Confident Her Friendship With Taylor Swift Can Be Saved

According to the sources, Lively is so hopeful about things improving again that she has already set her mind on attending Swift’s upcoming wedding to her boyfriend,  NFL star Travis Kelce.

“Just like she had her Met Gala dress ready, she already has a dress picked out for Taylor’s wedding,” an insider said. “That’s how convinced she was — and still is — that this friendship can be saved.”

Despite her optimism, Lively is said to be well aware that it may take some time before any true reconciliation can occur. However, she reportedly believes it will eventually happen now that the legal drama with Baldoni has reached some form of resolution.

“She knows not everything snaps back overnight,” another source says. “But Blake believes removing the chaos changes everything. She thinks once the noise is gone, there’s room for real healing.”

How Taylor Swift Got Involved In Blake Lively’s Legal Drama

Swift became indirectly tied to the legal battle between Lively and Baldoni after her name appeared in court documents over alleged text conversations involving Lively that included disparaging remarks about Baldoni.

Lively was also reportedly seen in text messages telling the actor that she “happens to have a few dragons” who would defend her, a statement widely believed to reference Swift and Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds. The message was allegedly sent following a meeting between Lively and Baldoni regarding a scene from their film, “It Ends with Us.”

During the lawsuit, Baldoni’s legal team argued that the messages suggested Swift may have had some influence over Lively’s decisions related to the project.

Swift’s representatives, however, strongly denied any involvement. They stated that the singer never visited the set and had no role in the film’s creative development or production beyond licensing one of her songs for use in the movie.

Release Of Taylor Swift And Blake Lively’s Text Messages Worsened Things

The legal fight between Baldoni and Lively led to the unsealing of Swift’s alleged private chat with the actress, which was said to have negatively impacted the pop star.

The text messages showed Swift agreeing to hype up Lively’s adjustments to the “It Ends With Us” script, “even without reading it.”

In other messages, Lively praised the singer as “epically heroic” while labeling Baldoni a “clown” and a “doofus,” with Swift also calling him a “b-tch.”

According to People Magazine, the release of the messages left Swift feeling “uncomfortable.”

“Taylor feels like her privacy was impacted,” a source told the publication. “Anyone would be uncomfortable if their private texts were suddenly made public.”

Taylor Swift Reportedly Won’t Invite Blake Lively To Her Wedding

While the lawsuit was still ongoing, Swift did not make any public comments about the matter despite speculation that she could potentially be deposed as part of the legal proceedings.

Even now that the case is over, Swift has continued to remain silent, including on rumors surrounding any possible reconciliation with Lively.

On this, sources close to the situation have hinted that Swift is still holding onto some resentment and has decided not to invite Lively or her husband, Ryan Reynolds, to her wedding.

“They’re not invited. Period,” one source told Rob Shuter’s “Naughty But Nice” Substack, adding, “Taylor wants a drama-free day and no longer trusts Blake or Ryan.”

Another insider alleged that Swift had made the decision a long time ago, suggesting that the singer may have already moved on from her friendship with Lively.

A Sheriff Country star revealed if they were “written off” after a prolonged onscreen absence.

Michele Weaver, who plays Cassidy, took to Instagram on Friday, May 8, to address why she hasn’t been in recent episodes, adding, “People keep asking if I was written off. Nope .. just had to leave to have a baby.”

She continued: “I’m back next week! Don’t miss tonight’s episode! If you think you know what’s going to happen next… trust me.. you don’t.”

During an April episode of the hit CBS series, Cassidy was finally able to solve her missing sister’s case. That involved Cassidy getting kidnapped by a serial killer who got away with murdering women for years.

While Mickey (Morena Baccarin) saved Cassidy just in time, the deputy asked for some time off. The final scene showed Cassidy and her mother driving off in her car while healing from their loss.

The network previously renewed Sheriff Country for season 2 — with Weaver, 36, expected to reprise her role as Cassidy. Sheriff Country also stars Baccarin, Christopher Gorham, Matt Lauria and W. Earl Brown while Amanda Arcuri and Ian Quinlan were promoted to series regulars for the second season.

Concern about Cassidy’s future comes after Sheriff Country‘s predecessor, Fire Country, received backlash when budget cuts led to Billy Burke and Stephanie Arcila‘s exits.

“It’s a fire show. Anyone can go at any time,” showrunner Tia Napolitano told Us Weekly in October 2025. “But in terms of losing people, we’re also adding some really fun guest cast. It’s a revolving door of people from Sharon’s past and new faces that are exciting to bring conflict and secrets and twists and turns.”

Napolitano teased how the show will have to balance “really spicing it up” while still walking a “fine line” of paying tribute to the loss.

Related: How Many ‘Fire Country’ Stars Have Left the CBS Series Over the Years?

Fire Country has faced numerous surprising cast — and crew — changes over the years. The CBS series, which premiered in 2022, introduced Us to the town of Edgewater after inmate Bode (Max Thieriot) returned home and began volunteering for the California Conservation Camp Program. By season 2, a backdoor pilot set up the world […]

“What we’ve done is really thread the needle of honoring — especially Vince — because Gabriella is gone, but she’s gone to a happy and successful life. She’s still out there. But we really walk this line of honoring Vince while also finding hope rather quickly,” she noted. “Looking forward, the theme of the season is rising from the ashes and recovery.”

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Napolitano continued: “How do you recover from something like this? And we’re really going to see everybody rise to the occasion, in celebration of Vince, of his life and in honoring the sacrifice that he made.”

After speaking with Us, news broke that Napolitano was leaving the show as well. It was announced in March that Eric Guggenheim will be taking over for Napolitano. According to Deadline, Guggenheim is coming on board after previously serving as showrunner of Magnum P.I. and coshowrunner of Hawaii Five-0.

Sheriff Country airs on CBS Fridays at 8 p.m. ET and Fire Country follows at 9 p.m. ET. New episodes will be streaming the next day on Paramount+.

Rage bait consists of online content deliberately produced to provoke anger, outrage, and scandal in order to generate high levels of engagement. It has become a massive pillar of Internet culture, and sadly, not even the movies have been able to steer clear of rage bait. Indeed, particularly in recent times (when online discourse has become an essential part of a film’s anticipation and reception), it has become increasingly common for studios to make and promote movies in such a way that it’s clear they’re trying to stir a passionate reaction in audiences.

Whether it’s a biopic humiliating a beloved actress, one of Disney’s many live-action recreations of their animated classics, or a sequel that destroys everything that its beloved predecessor stood for, there have been many ways in which filmmakers have engaged in clear rage bait over the years. These aren’t just movies that happened to be bad and happened to anger audiences as a result: They were movies clearly designed from the get-go to incite rage in order to be in the conversation.

8

‘Blonde’ (2022)

Image via Netflix

Marilyn Monroe was one of the biggest and brightest stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, an immensely talented actress who still remains one of the era’s most beloved performers. She was also, however, a deeply tragic figure. Childhood trauma, mental health struggles, failed relationships, and notorious exploitation from the Hollywood studio systems all characterized her life. As a result, she’s become one of the most enigmatic and often-explored figures of the era across documentaries, books, movies, and the like. This leads us to Andrew Dominik‘s Blonde, based on Joyce Carol Oates‘ 2000 novel of the same name, a fictionalized account of the life and career of the actress.

In no way is Blonde celebratory or respectful of Monroe. Instead, it feels like a film that shamelessly humiliates her and manipulates her image, resulting in one of the worst rage-bait movies ever made. It’s posthumous tabloid trash in cinematic form, a drama clearly intended to stir up controversy in the way it distorts Monroe’s life with the excuse of being a “fictionalized account.” It’s time to let this beloved actress finally rest.

7

‘Snow White’ (2025)

Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Disney has been making live-action remakes of their beloved animated classics since the ’90s, but it was following the success of 2015’s Cinderella that the House of Mouse really started to turn this highly-criticized practice into a full-on business model. Disney live-action remakes have been getting lazier and lower-quality as the years have passed, culminating in what many would say is the worst one so far: Marc Webb‘s Snow White.

There are countless ways in which this remake failed the original, and that generated a storm of online hate that led the film to being one of the biggest box office flops in film history. From the controversial color-blind casting of Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, to the CGI monstrosities that served as the story’s Seven Dwarfs, to the controversial marketing campaign that made it very clear this remake’s narrative wouldn’t stick very close to the original’s, everything about Snow White felt specifically engineered to generate controversy.

6

‘Mean Girls’ (2024)

Image via Paramount Pictures

2004’s Mean Girls is one of the most beloved comedies of the 2000s, a cult classic that has only gotten better with age. A stage rock musical adaptation of the movie premiered in 2017 to high critical acclaim, and that musical served as the basis of 2024’s Mean Girls. Directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. from a screenplay by Tina Fey, who wrote the original musical’s book, the film was met with a lukewarm reception from critics and a fiery swarm of hate from audiences.

The movie itself, though definitely considerably inferior to its predecessor and its source material alike, would have been fine enough by itself. What made it seem like shallow rage bait, however, was Paramount’s marketing strategy. The studio bafflingly decided to hide the fact that the film was a musical, and seeing as the Broadway version of the story isn’t exactly a universally-known sensation quite like the original film is, this meant that many viewers were met with an unpleasant surprise when they went to see 2024’s Mean Girls in theaters.

5

‘The Emoji Movie’ (2017)

Image via Sony Pictures Releasing

The Emoji Movie is one of the worst animated movies of all time, and that’s an almost universally-agreed-upon consensus. It’s not just that it’s visually ugly, or too dumb for anyone over the age of four to find any enjoyment in, or so unfunny that it almost inflicts physical pain on its viewers. It’s the fact that a movie about emojis, corporate slop clearly made to get kids to beg their parents for a phone so they can play Candy Crush, was an entirely broken concept to begin with.

No kind of movie is more deserving of the label of “rage bait” than a cynical, lazy cash-grab with a pandering tone and some of the most shameless product placement of any major-studio film in Hollywood history. Somehow, The Emoji Movie‘s controversy-generating strategy worked: It was a significant box office success, though the years have allowed it to age as one of the most universally hated animated films in the medium’s history.

4

‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ (2024)

Throughout history, many movie franchises have taken a nosedive after the first movie. The Joker duology is one such franchise. Though definitely divisive, it’s an objective fact that the first film was a smash hit and a massive success, garnering 11 Academy Award nominations and becoming the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever at the time (a record since broken by Deadpool & Wolverine). Joker: Folie à Deux, on the other hand… much less of a success. That’s a nice way of saying that it was a total failure that massacred everything that its predecessor had done right.

If there is any pair of DC Comics characters who might have made sense as the stars of a campy jukebox musical on paper, it’s Joker and Harley Quinn. The problems here are that the hyper-pretentious Folie à Deux takes itself far too seriously to be campy, that the version of Gotham that Todd Phillips had built in Joker made zero sense as the setting for any kind of musical, and that the film very clearly made genuine efforts to get people’s feelings stirred up. In the end, this resulted in a major box office bomb.

3

‘Terrifier’ (2016)

Image Via Cinedigm

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Nowadays, horror fans fondly think of the horrifying-yet-oddly-amusing Art the Clown as the face of 2020s slasher horror, but that was only after the success of Terrifier 2 and Terrifier 3. The character actually originated in a 2008 short film, and went on to serve as the main villain of his own feature in 2016’s Terrifier. Whereas its two sequels have been successful in expanding the story, world-building, and character work of the franchise in tons of interesting ways, the original Terrifier is just plainly atrocious.

Misogynistic, boring, awfully acted, visually ugly, full of poorly-executed gore, and with a script that feels like it’s barely a couple of pages long, this controversial splatter horror cult classic has nothing to offer beyond juvenile shock value. It’s a movie that seems like it was designed specifically to annoy, offend, and provoke people, and for the most part, it definitely had its desired effect.

2

‘365 Days’ Trilogy

Image via Netflix

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The erotic thriller genre is one that has produced a number of genuinely masterful films over the years. Netflix’s 365 Days movies aren’t among them. We’re talking about three of the most unwatchable drama movies in history, painfully un-sexy and un-erotic failures that misunderstood everything the genre should be so badly that it’s almost laughable—or it would be, if the movies weren’t so infuriatingly misogynistic from start to finish.

But that’s just the thing: 365 Days rage-baiting misogyny in no way feels incidental. Instead, it feels like the whole point of the trilogy. It’s so painfully obvious that these films were created to stir up controversy and invite hate-watching that it’s almost—the keyword here is once again “almost”—funny. They’re poorly made, amateurish in every sense imaginable, and an all-out affront on the cinematic art form.

1

‘A Serbian Film’ (2010)

Image via Unearthed Films

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A Serbian Film is famous for being one of the most disturbing and traumatizing movies ever made. In fact, that’s the only thing it’s famous for. Using graphic violence and taboo subjects to criticize censorship in Serbia sounds like a smart and honorable enough concept on paper, but there’s definitely such a thing as “too far.” Director Srđan Spasojević goes light years beyond that blurry line, to the point that watching A Serbian Film doesn’t just take a strong stomach: It takes a bit of a masochistic attitude as well.

For a wide variety of reasons too grotesque and provocative to even name, A Serbian Film is one of those movies capable of disturbing pretty much anyone. It’s the quintessential rage-bait film par excellence, a movie made entirely and exclusively to generate controversy and provoke strong negative reactions not just in viewers, but in anyone even aware of the movie’s mere existence.

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A Serbian Film

Release Date

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June 11, 2010

Runtime

104 Minutes

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Director

Srđan Spasojević

Writers

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Aleksandar Radivojević, Srđan Spasojević

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Everyone is always talking about the same handful of thriller shows — the big hits like Breaking Bad or The Sopranos that might never really fade away, and for good reason. However, if one digs a little deeper, it’s easy to see that there are plenty of other thrillers that are just as brilliant, but for some reason, didn’t have the same cultural footprint.

Sometimes it’s timing; other times, certain things don’t instantly click with the audience. That doesn’t change the fact that this genre has no shortage of shows that took major risks and, in doing so, delivered some of the most compelling stories of all time. Here are six forgotten thriller shows that have aged like fine wine, thanks to their unique premises.

1

‘Giri/Haji’ (2019)

Image via BBC

Giri/Haji is an underrated crime thriller that begins with the familiar premise of detective Kenzo Mori (Takehiro Hora) traveling from Tokyo to London to track down his brother Yuto (Yōsuke Kubozuka), who has been accused of murder. However, the manhunt quickly expands into a story that moves between the two cities, shifting timelines and perspectives to deliver a story about family and love. Kenzo’s search is less about solving a case and more about navigating the tension between his duty and personal life. As Kenzo navigates London’s gritty underworld, the show also traces back the events that led Yuto into the Yakuza.

The parallel threads constantly reframe the story in a way that gives weight to every decision Kenzo makes. At the same time, Giri/Haji also gives equal importance to its side characters, including London detective Sarah Weitzmann (Kelly Macdonald) and Rodney (Will Sharpe), whose stories intersect with Kenzo’s in the most interesting ways. Giri/Haji balances its expanding narrative with strong character work, and naturally weaves multiple storylines together without losing cohesion. This balance is what makes it one of the most emotionally intense thriller series of recent times.

2

‘24’ (2001–2010)

Image via FOX

24 was a game-changing thriller back in the 2000s. The show was built around a high-concept premise that still feels ambitious today. Each season of 24 unfolds in real time over the course of a single day as counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) works to stop a major national threat. The narrative follows a classic ticking-time-bomb format and is driven by constant urgency. Jack tackles everything from assassination plots to terrorist attacks and conspiracy theories.

However, what truly stays with the audience is how the show explores the cost of those decisions. The writing consistently places him in situations with no clean solution and forces him to make choices that blur the line between right and wrong. That moral ambiguity remains the fuel of the show as each season widens the scope beyond the initial setup. 24 strikes the perfect balance between its fast-paced storytelling and a more layered approach to its narrative that ultimately keeps returning to Jack’s choices.

3

‘Person of Interest’ (2011–2016)

Image via CBS

Person of Interest follows billionaire programmer Harold Finch (Michael Emerson), who has built a machine that can predict violent crimes before they happen, and recruits former CIA operative, John Reese (Jim Caviezel), to stop them. At first, the show plays out like a standard crime procedural, with Reese handling one case at a time after Finch gives him just enough information to stay ahead of the danger. However, that only lays the foundation for something much bigger.

The case-of-the-week story slowly expands into an overarching narrative about surveillance, artificial intelligence, and government corruption. Person of Interest keeps building on its original setup until the audience finds themselves immersed in a sci-fi thriller far more complex than it initially appeared to be. Most people write Person of Interest off as yet another network crime drama, but the show blends thrilling action with actual substance to tell a profound story about the systems that shape human life.

4

‘The Killing’ (2011–2014)

Image via AMC

The Killing turns the thriller genre on its head and takes a slow-burn approach to its storytelling, but that’s exactly what makes it so chilling. The series begins with the murder of a teenage girl. However, instead of following a typical case-of-the-week structure, it stretches this investigation across an entire season, so every lead and setback can fully sink in. The story follows detectives Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) and Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman) as they try to get to the bottom of the murder. At the same time, the show follows Rosie’s grieving family and a political campaign that gets entangled in the case.

As Sarah and Stephen dig deeper, the line of suspects keeps growing without ever feeling forced. The show explores how a crime like this can affect an entire community and brings Rosie’s school, her friendships, and her family life into the picture. This allows The Killing to create a sense of tension without relying on constant twists, and later seasons keep the same momentum going with new cases that feel just as grim and personal. The show has some serious staying power because it doesn’t just highlight the central murder, but also its brutal aftermath.

5

‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ (1979)

Image via BBC

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a slow, deliberate spy drama that begins on a note most viewers won’t expect. The story follows veteran spymaster George Smiley (Alec Guinness), who is quietly pushed into retirement after a disastrous mission exposes the existence of a Soviet mole within the British Intelligence. However, when new evidence surfaces, Smiley is brought back in secret to investigate his former colleagues. All of a sudden, he has to question men he once trusted in this quiet, internal war.

Smiley begins by retracing the events surrounding the failed operation and starts digging into old files to make sense of the situation. The story moves across timelines to gradually reveal how deeply this mole has compromised the system. Every new character carries their own secrets, and every new twist adds a new layer of tension to the narrative. The audience is forced to patiently understand the world Smiley is operating in, where every conversation is loaded with subtext, and the line between loyalty and betrayal is never fully clear.

6

‘Columbo’ (1971–1998)

Image via NBC

Columbo is another crime thriller that defies all expectations by revealing its central murder and the culprit at the beginning of every episode. The real appeal, then, doesn’t lie in finding out the killer’s identity, but in watching Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk) slowly working his way to solve the crime. By removing the whodunit element, Columbo focuses on its characters and the psychological tension that comes from watching the protagonist dismantle the very idea of the perfect crime piece by piece.

Most of the killers in the show are individuals who truly believe that they have gotten away, but once Columbo enters the picture, the story shifts into a cat-and-mouse game, with the suspects having no idea that the detective knows far more than he lets on. Even though the formula of Columbo stays largely similar, the psychology behind each crime keeps things fresh. Of course, none of it works without Falk, who wholly embodies his character’s charm and wit. The show proves that sometimes, it’s fun to be in on the big reveal.

Holly Madison is spilling all about her sex life in the Playboy Mansion.

The former Girls Next Door star, 46, detailed group romps with the late Hugh Hefner during the Tuesday, May 5, episode of the “Let’s Be Honest With Kristin Cavallari” podcast.

“It would be kind of silhouetted because you’d have, like, these giant screens of porn going and it would be just girls like talking s*** with each other,” Madison said, claiming it was an awkward experience that she and other women rushed through. She added, “It was a really weird scene and nobody liked it and everybody tried to just get it done as fast as possible.”

When asked how the trysts began, Madison — who previously identified as the magazine mogul’s No. 1 girl for seven years — told host Kristin Cavallari, “Kind of like taking turns and then the girls who weren’t active with him were kind of like acting like they were active with the other girls, but not really.”

Related: Every Former Playmate Who’s Spoken Out Against Hugh Hefner

The truth behind the fantasy. The Playboy Mansion is the stuff of pop culture legend, but former Playmates have been brutally honest about what life was really like there — and how the late Hugh Hefner treated them. Holly Madison was never technically a Playmate, but she did live with Hefner, who died in September […]

Fans got to know Madison and Hef’s other main girlfriends Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson when the trio appeared on five seasons of their E! reality series, The Girls Next Door, which debuted in 2005. The sixth and final season premiered in 2009, introducing his future wife, Crystal Harris, as well as twins Kristina and Karissa Shannon. (Crystal has since remarried after Hefner died in September 2017. He was 91.)

“But after we started filming the show, [the group sex sessions] just stopped, which was amazing,” Madison said. “He loved the show. He was like high off the show,” she speculated. “It gave him new relevance, like the ego boost. So he didn’t really feel the need to like, ‘Oh, I have to do these compulsive sex nights to make myself feel wanted and relevant,’ I think.”

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Madison said the hookups often happened after they went on date nights. While recalling their past, she admitted there was a point in time when things changed, which came as a relief.
“I think me, Bridget, and Kendra were so on the same page that we just didn’t want to do that anymore,” Madison said of how the dynamic evolved over time, noting there was no conversation but rather an overall understanding. “Nobody had to say anything. We were just like, ‘OK, we’re not going out anymore.’”

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Related: ‘Girls Next Door’ Cast: Where Are They Now?

It may have been over a decade since The Girls Next Door first aired on E!, but it still hasn’t been forgotten quite yet. The Girls Next Door — which ran for six seasons from 2005 to 2010 — gave viewers an inside look at the eventful lives of the late Hugh Hefner’s three main […]

Madison, now a mom of two, said that toward the end of her relationship with Hefner, she had sex with him “very rarely.”

“It would just be us watching a movie or he’s doing a crossword puzzle and I’m reading,” she shared. “It was very suburban.”

Olivia Culpo and Christian McCaffrey’s romance is one for the record books.

Culpo dated former New England Patriots player Danny Amendola on and off for two years before she was set up with McCaffrey in June 2019. The duo, however, kept their romance somewhat private in the months that followed.

It wasn’t until February 2020, that the couple publicly confirmed their relationship while attending the NFL Honors ceremony in Miami, Florida. That same month, the twosome gushed over their budding romance on Valentine’s Day.

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“Happy Valentine’s Day to my best friend. Thank you for changing my life and showing me the kind of love I always wanted but never thought was possible,” Culpo wrote via Instagram at the time. “You are the definition of an answered prayer. I am the luckiest girl in the world.”

After four years of dating, the twosome announced their engagement in April 2023. Culpo and McCaffrey officially tied the knot in June 2024. The couple welcomed their first baby, Colette, in July 2025, and nearly one year later, Culpo revealed she’s pregnant with baby No. 2.

Scroll down to see Culpo and McCaffrey’s romance from the beginning: