Inside Selena Gomez and Blake Lively's strained friendship after the singer said she felt like an 'outsider'

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Selena Gomez and Blake Lively have both called Taylor Swift their best friend over the years - but the pair's own friendship has seemingly failed to reach the same level.

As both find themselves making global headlines and facing scathing backlash online this week, some would think the duo could find solace in each other amid their woes.

However, despite being longtime members of Taylor's star-studded girl squad, the actresses appear to have failed to build up a strong connection.

In recent years, it has even led fans to note that Emilia Perez star Selena, 32, has been forced to pull back from her friendship with Taylor - who has continued to spend copious amounts of time with Blake, 37, and husband Ryan Reynolds.

At the time of the speculation, one insider revealed to DailyMail.com that the reason for the drift was down to the former Disney Channel star's lack of 'desire' to be around Taylor's other pals such including the It Ends With Us star.

The shift came as a surprise to fans due to the fact Selena and Taylor were firm friends by the time Blake entered the scene in 2015, having first struck up a friendship in 2008.

Despite being connected through Taylor for over a decade, there have long been signs of bad blood between the Gossip Girl actress and the Come & Get It singer.

The pair seem to have failed to click as friends and never even hang out together with Taylor as a trio, seemingly choosing to spend time with their popstar pal separately instead.

Selena Gomez and Blake Lively have both called Taylor Swift their best friend over the years - but the pair's own friendship has seemingly failed to reach the same level 

When DailyMail.com tallied up dozens of occasions, including all of Taylor's birthday bashes, her Fourth of July parties and her New Years Eve celebrations, it became clear that Selena and Blake have never attended such events together.  

Suspicions were recently raised again when football fan Selena was missing from Taylor's A-list squad at last year's Super Bowl final, which saw Lana Del Rey, Ashley Avignone, Kaleigh Sperry and Blake cheering on Travis Kelce as the Kansas City Chiefs romped to victory against San Francisco 49ers.

Insiders later confirmed that there was tensions between Blake and Selena behind the scenes.

'This is the reason neither of them are ever with Taylor at the same time and are constantly avoiding run-ins with each other,' a source told DailyMail.com exclusively. 

A second insider noted: 'For a good hangout and good party, you know who to invite and who not to invite. Taylor knows not to mix Blake and Selena in the same room and that it must be two separate nights.

'Blake enjoys the perks of being a celebrity. She loves to have fun. If there is something fun going down, she wants to be a part of it and it is contagious. This is something that everyone, including Taylor, loves about Blake. 

'She knows that, no matter what, she is going to have a good time and lots of laughs when she is out with Blake.'

They continued: 'When Taylor wants to hang loose, Blake will be in the mix. Selena just plays a different role in Taylor's life. It is as simple as that.'

Selena and Taylor were firm friends by the time Blake entered the scene in 2015, having first struck up a friendship in 2008 (pictured together in January 2024)

Despite being connected through Taylor for over a decade, there have long been signs of bad blood between the Gossip Girl actress (pictured bottom left) and the Come & Get It singer 

The pair seem to have failed to click as friends, seemingly choosing to spend time with their popstar BFF separately instead - Selena pictured at Taylor's 2023 Fourth of July bash

Selena and Blake don't appear to have ever been photographed together at professional industry events either, such as the Met Gala, Golden Globes and the Emmys. 

Notably, they were both in attendance at Saturday Night Live on November 14, 2021 when Taylor was the guest host and debuted the remake of her song, All Too Well (Taylor's version) - but there are no pictures of them mingling on the night.

Over the past decade, Selena has seemingly only ever made one reference to the Gossip Girl star.

In a 2016 interview with Elle magazine, she was asked about the actress for a beauty piece.

'I wish she was my friend, but she's not my friend,' she said. 'Blake Lively. I've never met her, but I just love her hair. I think she's got beautiful, effortless hair. I think she's super beachy.' 

For some fans it has been telling that Gomez and Swift themselves have not been publicly seen together since they both attended the 2024 Golden Globes in January.

When DailyMail.com tallied up dozens of occasions, including all of Taylor's birthday bashes, it became clear that Selena and Blake (pictured in 2024) have never attended them together 

Despite being longtime members of Taylor's star-studded girl squad, the actresses appear to have failed to build up a strong connection - Blake pictured with Taylor in 2016

Selena and Blake, pictured with Taylor and Gigi Hadid at the singer's birthday bash in December 2023, have repeatedly reportedly avoided 'run ins' with each other

Prior to that, the pair had attended a comedy night together in December 2023, with Gomez also making a rare appearance for a group dinner with Taylor, Brittany Mahomes, Sophie Turner, Gigi Hadid and Cara Delevingne weeks before. 

In the aftermath of the Golden Globes, Selena had hinted she was hurt to miss out on group hangouts when she left a sad comment on a snap of Taylor's box at the Super Bowl on February.

The photo was posted by a Taylor fan page on Instagram and showed the singer, with Blake, Keleigh Sperry, Lana Del Rey, Ice Spice, and others. 

In the comments, Selena posted a sad tearful emoji along with a black heart emoji.  

Sources explained to DailyMail.com at the time: 'Selena feels like she has matured out of Taylor's circle of friends. She has no desire to be out with Blake, or Ice Spice, or Brittany or really any of those girls.'

The source continued: 'In a lot of ways, she feels like an outsider now. She is not a cheerleader and never wanted to be.'

Elsewhere, Selena was forced to delete her tearful video about Donald Trump's mass deportation of undocumented immigrants on Monday.

The actress sobbed as she spoke about Trump's immigration policy in an emotional clip shared to her Instagram Stories.

The duo did both turn out to support Taylor when she performed All Too Well (Taylor's version) on SNL on November 14, 2021 - but they were not pictured together 

Taylor shared a TikTok video of her and Selena backstage (pictured). The actress did not appear to watch the show in the audience, or attend the after party

Blake and her husband Ryan Reynolds were both pictured in the audience and made an appearance at the afterparty (pictured outside) 

The video sparked a fierce backlash from Republicans and MAGA supporters, including US Senate candidate Sam Parker who called for the Bad Liar singer to be deported in the wake of her meltdown.

'All my people are getting attacked, the children. I don't understand. I'm so sorry, I wish I could do something but I can't,' she said between sobs. 

'I don't know what to do. I'll try everything, I promise.' 

After removing the post, Selena shared a message that read: 'Apparently it's not OK to show empathy for people.' 

She also responded to Sam Parker's call for her to be deported in a separate post, writing: 'Oh Mr. Parker, Mr. Parker. Thanks for the laugh and the threat.'

Meanwhile, Blake is currently locked into an explosive legal feud with her It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni, 41.

In recent filings, Justin claimed that Blake used her friendship with Taylor to intimidate him at a meeting with her husband about edits she had made to a rooftop scene in their film.

In his $400 million lawsuit, filed earlier this month, Justin claimed Taylor showed up and made him feel like he 'needed to comply with Blake's direction for the script'.

Blake later appeared to threaten the Jane The Virgen actor by comparing herself to Game of Thrones character Khaleesi in a series of text messages in which she referred to her husband, 48, and her best friend as her 'dragons.'