A-list actress Blake Lively has issued a grovelling apology over a “tasteless” joke about Catherine, Princess of Wales just days before the royal mum announced that she’d been diagnosed with cancer.
On Friday local time, Kate, 42, revealed that doctors discovered that the cancer shortly after she underwent abdominal surgery in January.
“My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment,” she said.
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“This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.”
In recent weeks, Kate has been the subject of persistent speculation due to her absence from royal duties.
The controversy only deepened when Buckingham Palace released an image of the royal mum with children George, Charlotte and Louis for Mother’s Day that was revealed to be photoshopped.
It prompted Lively — who has four children with actor husband Ryan Reynolds — to post her own image poking fun at Kate on Instagram.
She wrote: “I’m so excited to share this new photo I just took today to announce our 4 new @bettybuzz & @bettybooze products! Now you know why I’ve been MIA.”
The photograph shared with the post — which has since been removed — had obvious photoshop fails, showing Blake with an abnormally large thumb, a faulty chair and a random disproportionate lemon falling from the sky.
In the wake of Kate’s cancer announcement, Lively issued an apology on Instagram.
“I’m sure no one cares today but I feel I have to acknowledge this,” she wrote.
“I made a silly post around the ‘photoshop fails’ frenzy and, oh, man, that post has me mortified today.”
Lively has been the subject of intense criticism over her jibe since Kate’s announcement went public.
“I wonder if @Blakelively is still going after Catherine, Princess of Wales after hearing what she – a devoted mother of three children – has been battling. You were only one of the ONLY of this generation of actors I was rooting for. Mean girls always show their colours. You are wrong,” one social media user said.
Another added: “Now the news is out she is undergoing chemotherapy, a mother of three little ones having to share that news with them. You should be ashamed,” one Instagram user wrote.
“You have now bullied someone suffering from cancer,” a third wrote.
One more added: “Tasteless. So, so tasteless.”
