Jameela Jamil is addressing her views on feminism after her previous texts about Blake Lively spurred media headlines.
Lively is suing her It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment and retaliation, with the trial set to begin in May after Lively filed the suit in December 2024. Recently unsealed court documents revealed Lively’s text exchanges with Taylor Swift and emails to Ben Affleck, in addition to messages from Sony Pictures executives and statements that the movie’s co-stars Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer made in their depositions.
Included in the documents is a private text exchange from August 2024 between Jamil and Baldoni’s publicist Jennifer Abel, who also represented Jamil. At the time, the pair were responding to a TikTok video that criticized Lively’s remarks during the It Ends With Us press tour as not being serious enough, given that the film centered on domestic abuse. Jamil texted about Lively, “She’s a suicide bomber at this point.” Jamil also texted, “I’ve never seen such a bizarre villain act before.”
Jamil took to her Instagram Stories on Thursday to share a video in which she clarified her belief that being a feminist does not preclude someone from having personal differences with other women. Although Jamil’s video does not specifically mention Lively or the situation surrounding It Ends With Us, the post follows several media outlets having run headlines focusing on Jamil’s texts, with TMZ’s story noting that the star’s “feminist, women-first image may be taking a serious hit” in light of the unsealed documents.
“Guys, feminism means fighting for the political, social and economic equity for women,” Jamil said in her video. “Just gender equity. It does not mean you have to like every single woman. It doesn’t mean you have to be friends with every single woman. It means you can actually beef with other women. You can criticize them. You can do whatever you want, as long as you are also fighting for their human right to the same things that men have in this world.”
She continued, “That’s all feminism is. It’s a moral and political stance. It is not a sleepover where we braid each other’s pubes, OK? So if you are fighting for women’s rights, but you don’t get along with every single woman, it doesn’t make you a bad feminist.”
Jamil is known for roles on such series as The Good Place, She-Hulk and Poker Face and for the recent Netflix feature People We Meet on Vacation. She has a voice role in the Pixar movie Elio, which was nominated Thursday for the best animated feature Oscar.
