Michelle Trachtenberg Revealed What She Really Thought of Former Co-Star Blake Lively’s Lawsuit With Justin Baldoni Weeks Before Her Death
Jason Pham
Weeks before her death, Michelle Trachtenberg gave her take on her former Gossip Girl co-star Blake Lively’s lawsuit with her It Ends Us Director Justin Baldoni.
Trachtenberg—who died at the age of 39 on Wednesday, February 26—was asked about the drama between Lively and Baldoni in a comment on an Instagram photo of her wearing sunglasses in January 2025. “Would love to see you release a statement on the Blake drama. Or idk if this is a direct statement? Hahaha you’re so fabulous,” the Instagram account @xoxoposhgirl commented, referencing Trachtenberg’s caption: “It takes a lot of strength to see through all the b*llshit. And some dark sunglasses. 🕶️ #newyork”
In response to the comment, Trachtenberg told the account that she was more concerned about the Los Angeles wildfires spreading across Southern California at the time than the drama with her former co-star. “gosh Im busy worrying about real world news and families who have no home anymore from the LA fires. But you do you,” she wrote back.
Audrey Long—the user behind @xoxoposhgirl—told The Daily Mail that she asked Trachtenberg to comment on the Lively and Baldoni drama because she believed her Instagram caption was already a reference to the lawsuit. “Michelle’s post caption seemed to be alluding to something,” she said. “The fires in Los Angeles are devastatingly heartbreaking and destructive, however, my comment was not with the intent to minimize this issue or with malicious intentions.” She continued, “I honestly wasn’t expecting Michelle to respond! Some commenters have called her a “real-life Georgina.”
Though some commenters criticized Trachtenberg for her response to Lively and Baldoni drama, Long didn’t take offense to the comment. “She doesn’t owe anyone anything, they worked together once a long time ago and now it’s none of her business,” she said.
Trachtenberg starred in a recurring role as Georgina Sparks on Gossip Girl from 2008 to 2012. Lively, for her part, played Serena van der Woodsen on The CW series for the same amount of time. Hours after news broke of Trachtenberg’s death, Lively broke her social media silence with an Instagram post in honor of her late co-star.
“This is the first day I met Michelle. She was electricity. You knew when she entered a room because the vibration changed,” she captioned a photo of her and Trachtenberg on Gossip Girl. “Everything she did, she did 200%. She laughed the fullest at someone’s joke, she faced authority head on when she felt something was wrong, she cared deeply about her work, she was proud to be a part of this community and industry as painful as it could be sometimes, she was fiercely loyal to her friends and brave for those she loved. she was big and bold and distinctly herself.”
She continued, “And she always had yummy caramel smelling lipgloss on because she didn’t just want to sparkle on camera, she liked creating a nice experience for anyone who was in her orbit, even down to the subtle smell of her lipgloss because she cared about the sweet details.”
Lively concluded with a message for her followers hold on to those they love who are still alive. “She was a kind person, through and through. Time passes. You take for granted that you get the chance to see an old friend. To paraphrase, the real tragedies in life are the ones that blindside you on an idle Tuesday,” she wrote. “Hold those you love and have loved dear. The world lost a deeply sensitive and good person in Michelle. May her work and her huge heart be remembered by those who were lucky enough to experience her fire.”
Lively and Baldoni—who starred together in the 2024 movie It Ends With Us which Baldoni also directed—have been embroiled in legal drama since December 2024 when Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department alleging Baldoni created a hostile work environment through inappropriate sexual comments and boundary violations. Baldoni, for is part, filed a libel lawsuit for $250 million against The New York Times—which first reported on Lively’s complaint—six days later.
He also filed a $400 million civil suit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, as well as their publicist Leslie Sloan for extortion, defamation, and invasion or privacy in January 2025. A trial date is set for March 2026.
