All's fair in love and social media warfare, just ask Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.
Over the years, the Gossip Girl alum and the Deadpool star—wed since 2012—have masterfully trolled one another on the Internet and in person. Indeed, no birthday, anniversary or milestone is complete without quippy exchanges, cheeky comments and snarky tribute posts. "We're people that don't take ourselves too seriously," Ryan said on the Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist podcast. "The only people I really love to make fun of is us."
Hey, some people's love language is gift-giving or maybe physical touch.
For Blake and Ryan, it's trading barbs. "We do it in real life all the time," Blake told HELLO! of their affectionate back-and-forth. "It was just an organic thing, and I don't know where or when it happened, but all day long, we are just [teasing] each other because that's my best friend!"
And she couldn't help but add, "I always win, of course. And I am not competitive at all."
So, let's look back on the many times that Blake and Ryan—they're parents to daughters James, 5, Inez, 3, and Betty, 16 months—proved trolling might just be the secret to a successful marriage in Hollywood.
You know they love it, XOXO.
The Initial Post: Blake poked fun at Ryan's new hairdo in quarantine, posting a photo of his baby man-bun to her Instagram Stories. "I dare you to forget this every time you see him for the rest of eternity," she quipped in her caption.
The Counter Post: The Deadpool star shared the image to his own Instagram Stories, writing, "Clearly your birth control doesn't work, so..."
After Ryan gave his fitness trainer Don Saladino a shout-out on his Stories about at-home workouts, Blake naturally seized the opportunity to poke fun at the post, noting that the celebrity trainer's shirtless promotional image felt very Tinder-esque.
Reposting his original story to her account, she replied, "@vancityreynolds I keep swiping right. This isn't working," adding, "Oh…swipe UP."
After it was reported that Ryan had sold his co-owned liquor company Aviation American Gin for $610 million, he celebrated the only way he knew how: He penned a snarky "Out of Office" e-mail that addressed his wife in his "apology" letter, also listing Dwayne Johnson, Betty White, AMC Theaters, Total Wine and TGI Friday's among others.
"I just learned what an 'earn out' is... And I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to everyone I told to go f--k themselves in the last 24 hours," he wrote. "The point is, to those listed below, I'm sorry... and I'll indeed be needing your help in the coming months and years."
When Ryan posted a promotional pic for his gin company in July 2020, Blake, being a supportive wife, commented, "I think this just got me pregnant."
But fans hoping for news about the couple possibly adding to their brood were left disappointed when her husband promptly replied with an "out of the office" message. "I will be out of the office starting July 22nd through the middle of forever and ever," his message stated. "If you need immediate assistance during by absence, please contact someone. Anyone. Otherwise I will respond to your message as soon as possible upon my unlikely return. Thank you."
Blake underwent a make-under for her Netflix movie The Rhythm Section, and Ryan had no problem poking fun at her new look on social media in 2017. "#nofilter," he captioned a paparazzi photo of Blake on-set.
Never forget when Ryan decided to celebrate The Shallows star's big day by posting not one, not two but ten less-than-flattering photos of her in an Instagram carousel...which we will now re-post a few of, obviously.
And here's another.
The mutual adoration and admiration really shines through in this one.
This one really captures Blake's spirit, no?
Yeah, he went hard.
But he definitely saved the best for last.
For the milestone birthday, Ryan decided to go all out, posting a glamorous photo of the couple from the 2014 Met Gala in his Instagram tribute to Blake...save for the fact that he cropped her out of the pic. "Happy Birthday to my amazing wife," he wrote.
Blake returned the favor when it came to Ryan's 41st birthday, with her husband even admitting how "awesome" her Instagram post was. "Happy Birthday, baby," she wrote alongside a pic of Ryan Gosling and a cropped out Ryan Reynolds at the Critics' Choice Awards in 2016.
Ah, revenge is sweet.
While promoting her 2018 movie A Simple Favor, Blake had to deal with Ryan tweeting at her for spoilers about what happened to her missing character. "You can tell me. We're married" he wrote. "You once drove me to the hospital when you were giving birth. So... what the f--k happened to Emily?"
In response, Blake tweeted, "Oh darling, of all the secrets I'm keeping from you, this should be the LEAST of your concerns... trust me."
After Blake gifted Ryan with an original Danny Galieote painting, the Buried actor posted a heartfelt thank you message on Instagram, almost making it through the entire caption without a joke. "This piece of art is the greatest present my wife has ever given me," he wrote. "If there's ever a fire, I'm grabbing this first. I'll come back for Blake."
Hey, at least he said he'd come back for her?
Ryan was excited when Aviation Gin was ranked as one of the best celebrity spirits by drink experts VinePair, so he did what anyone else would do: Posted about the achievement on social media a lot, prompting Blake to poke fun at his lack of cool.
"My husband has no chill," she wrote on her Instagram Story, showing her followers that Ryan didn't waste any time to point out his brand's ranking. "…Literally 37 mins later."
She also shared a screenshot from the Aviation Gin Instagram, which posted VinePair's original article and review of the brand. She sarcastically wrote, "…In case you missed it?"
When the divorce rumors continued to pop up in 2018, Reynolds used his Aviation Gin out-of-office email to poke fun at the unconfirmed reports. Posting his schedule, Ryan devoted much of his Monday that week to gym, tan and laundry, and that night, he attended a screening of Blake's movie, A Simple Favor. The planner noted, "No divorce jokes!!"
An hour later though, Reynolds scheduled himself to, "Sneak out of MOMA screening to regroup. It can't all be about you. This is her moment. Get it together, asshole."
In March 2018 an unconfirmed report said the couple had been struggling to spend quality time together because they were both busy working. Never one to resist publicly shutting down a rumor, Ryan retweeted the story, writing, "I wish. I could use a little 'me time.'"
In June 2018, Blake posted an Instagram of a poster for her movie A Simple Favor with co-star Anna Kendrick and wrote, "@annakendrick47 is the hotter, female(r) version of my husband...so, would it really count as cheating??"
Ryan, of course, inserted his own two cents. "The most ambitious crossover event in history," he quipped. "I'll miss you both. Tell my story."
"I picked a good one," Blake wrote in her caption for Ryan's birthday in October 2019. Yeah, you did, girl.
After Ryan posted a photo of his face on a van promoting his gin biz, Blake couldn't resist noting how "huge" she thought her man looked in the photo.
"Who needs a mini van?! I'm driving this from now on," she commented on the post. "Subtle, gorgeous, and OHMYGAWDYOUREHUGE."
When Blake decided to wipe her social media while promoting a film in 2018, Ryan broke his silence about being unfollowed by his wife during an interview with Australian radio program Smallzy's Surgery. "I'm very sad about that," he quipped to host Smallzy. "Definitely stinks. It's a terrible way to find out that I've been kicked out of the house, to be honest. Absolutely terrible. I don't know where rage like that comes from."
He also joked about their daughters being too young to understand the social media shade. "'Mommy unfollowed daddy on Instagram,'" he said, pretending to deliver the news to his children. "My child would just fart and then walk away."
Don't worry, she re-followed him just a few days later.
This story was originally published on Tuesday, August 25, 2020 at 12 a.m. PT.