Blake Lively Apologizes for Joke After Kate Middleton’s Cancer Diagnosis

A-list actress Blake Lively has issued a grovelling apology over a “tasteless” joke about Kate Middleton just days before the royal mum announced that she’d been diagnosed with cancer. On Friday local time, Kate, 42, revealed that doctors discovered 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. “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 . 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.

Kim Kardashian mockingly shared a carousel of photos of herself with the caption, “On my way to find Kate”. Several followers called out Kardashian for poor taste, however, as of press time, Kardashian’s post is still live. Andy Cohen, John Oliver, and Stephen Colbert also used the princess as a punchline earlier this week. We can only assume their apologies are forthcoming.