Blake Lively is speaking out after an Instagram account posted a paparazzi photo showing her and Ryan Reynolds’ young daughters—when she’s publicly expressed her desire to keep them out of the public eye. As E! reported, Lively called the account’s decision to run the photo “disturbing” in a comment on the post and she condemned them for going back on their word to her that they would not feature photos of her children James, Inez, and Betty. The post has since been deleted.
“This is so disturbing,” Lively wrote in the comment. “I’ve personally shared with you that these men [paparazzi photographers] stalk and harass my children. And you are still posting. You said you would stop. You personally promised me. This is not casual appreciation. This is YOU also exploiting very young children. Please. Delete. Please. Some parents are ok with this. We. Are. NOT.”
She re-posted her comment on her Instagram Story and added to her fans, “Thank you to everyone UNFOLLOWING accounts who exploit children. YOU make ALL the difference. Thank you for your integrity. Thank you.”
Many media outlets, including ELLE, have policies not to run paparazzi photos of celebrity children. In July, Lively commented on a since-deleted post from a tabloid about their choice to run photos of her kids, spelling out just how upsetting the practice is, saying how harmful the exploitation of her family has been to her and her daughters.
“You edit together these images together to look like I’m happily waving. But that is deceitful,” she wrote. “The real story is: My children were being stalked by a men [sic] all day. Jumping out. And then hiding. A stranger on the street got into words with them because it was so upsetting for her to see. When I tried to calmly approach the photographer you hired to take these pictures in order to speak with him, he would run away. And jump out at the next block. Do you do background checks on the photographs [sic] you pay to stalk children? Where is your morality here? I would like to know. Or do you simply not care about the safety of children? The photographers who would speak to me, I was able to agree to smile and wave and let them take my picture away from my children if they would leave my kids alone. Because it was frightening. Tell the whole story. At minimum, listen to your followers. They too understand this is dark and upsetting that you pay people to stalk children. Please stop paying grown ass men to hide and hunt children. There are plenty of pictures you could’ve published without the kids. Please delete. C’mon. Get with the times.”
Alyssa Bailey
News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton).
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