Blake Lively slams Instagram account for ‘disturbing’ photo of her young kids

Blake Lively is once again calling attention to the fact that using paparazzi photos of her young daughters against her wishes just isn’t going to fly. Earlier this year, Lively went full Mama Bear by sharing an impassioned plea to The Daily Mail Australia for allegedly stalking, harassing, and frightening her and her three young children just to snap photos for the publication.

Now, she’s publicly calling out the Instagram account “Hollywood Star Kids” for posting a photo of Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds with their kids. Though the post has since been deleted, E! News was able to document Lively’s comment on the post beforehand.

“This is so disturbing,” Lively commented. “I’ve personally shared with you that these men 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,” she continued. “We. Are. NOT.”

This is a stance Lively has made clear—unsanctioned photos of her kids are off-limits. In the published photos from earlier this year, Lively is seen walking with her three daughters, James, 6, Inez, 4, and Betty, 21 months and waving to the cameras.

In a comment she wrote under those photos on the official account for The Daily Mail Australia, she made it clear that those photos aren’t capturing the real story of how the paparazzi obtained the photos, nor did it capture her real emotions.

The entire post, including Lively’s comment, has since been deleted—but not before the account Comments By Celebs snapped a screenshot to share.

“You edit together these images together to look like I’m happily waving. But that is deceitful,” Lively wrote. “The real story is: My children were being stalked by men all day. Jumping out. And then hiding.”

It’s an extremely stressful scenario to imagine. And it’s important to remember that just because Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, are famous—their children didn’t choose to be. Publishing photos of her children without permission denies those innocent kids their agency. It’s no wonder Lively is upset; any mother’s instincts would be on high alert after something like this.

“Where is your morality here?” she asked back in July. “I would like to know. Or do you simply not care about the safety of children? Please stop paying grown a** men to hide and hunt children. C’mon. Get with the times.”

After Comments By Celebs shared her words, Lively thanked them for the support. She also explained how everyone can play a part in making sure children of celebrities aren’t harassed like this for photos anymore.

“One simple thing people can do is stop following and block any publications or handles who publish kid’s pictures,” she said. “Feel free to report them. Or send a dm sharing why you don’t follow them. But it’s a simple way of only aligning with publications who have morality. And so many do. All are trying to service an audience. So if that audience makes it clear they don’t want something —like photos of children obtained by men frightening and stalking them— the publication or account will do what the audience wants. It’s the only way that so many have already stopped. Because the people demanded it.”

Unfortunately, the Hollywood Star Kids account didn’t follow Lively’s wishes—but thankfully the photo has since been deleted.

It’s one thing when celebrity parents give consent for their children to be photographed, like when Reynolds was receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (see above) and he and Lively had their children join them. It’s an entirely different—and traumatizing—experience when photographers are harassing an innocent family and small children without consent.

Bravo to Lively for standing her ground and showing the world she won’t stand for anyone violating her children’s privacy.

Although we may not be followed by paparazzi, we all have to stand up for and advocate for our kids in different ways. Trust your instincts and believe in your strength. You’ve got this.

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