As Blake Lively continues to navigate a highly publicized legal feud with “It Ends With Us” co-star Justin Baldoni, a new controversy has surfaced, but this time involving an unsettling fan interaction in a Texas hotel lobby.

According to 27-year-old Kaitlyn Cooper from Houston, what began as an innocent celebrity sighting of Blake Lively turned into a disturbing experience she claims left her “completely caught off guard and confused.”

Cooper was staying at the upscale Hotel 1928 in Waco, Texas, on Saturday, March 8, when hotel staff allegedly let slip that a “VIP guest” was on the premises. That guest, Cooper later learned, was none other than “Gossip Girl” alum Blake Lively, who had been in Austin the day before for the SXSW premiere of “Another Simple Favor,” her latest film alongside rumored rival Anna Kendrick.

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After dinner at the hotel restaurant with her mother, Cooper says she returned to the lobby in hopes of catching a glimpse of Lively. She eventually did, and captured a brief video clip on her phone.

“I just pulled up my phone and started recording a very brief clip. It was nothing exciting,” Cooper told Daily Mail. “I want[ed] to show my friends.”

The video, according to Cooper, shows Lively entering the lobby in a white blouse and jeans, her face partially covered by her hand after apparently noticing she was being filmed.

“[Blake] walked in, she was super loud. Her voice was extremely recognizable,” Cooper recalled. “She looked at us. I believe she spotted us [filming her].”

But it’s what allegedly happened the next morning that has drawn even more attention.

As Cooper and her mother were loading their car to leave, she says the “Another Simple Favor” actress approached her outside the hotel.

“I heard [someone say], ‘Hi,’ and it was a woman’s voice,” Cooper recounted. “I looked up, and see [Blake]. She’s got her phone up [like she’s recording me]. Out of instinct, I just said hi back because what do you say?”

Cooper claims Lively didn’t say anything else but instead circled the vehicle with her phone, at one point appearing to film the car’s license plate. She alleges Lively then handed her phone to a security guard, who made a second loop around the vehicle before the pair returned inside the hotel.

“We were just confused about what was happening,” Cooper said.

What followed left her even more unsettled.

During her drive back to Houston, Cooper posted videos to her Instagram Stories recounting the odd exchange. She says she quickly noticed unexpected viewers, including a Hotel 1928 staff member and a woman she believes to be part of Lively’s team.

Cooper provided screenshots to Daily Mail of these alleged views, describing the behavior as “very paranoid.”

“[I think they were] looking out to see if I would post the video of her,” she suggested.

In the days that followed, Cooper shared her story in a series of TikTok videos but says the response was swift and harsh. She claims she began receiving views from anonymous troll accounts and faced online harassment.

“Some of the responses from complete strangers online have been so harsh,” she said, calling the situation “disturbing.”

“When the initial interaction took place outside with Blake and her security guard approaching us unexpectedly, we felt completely caught off guard and confused,” Cooper explained. “Once the [Instagram] story views from her team, hotel staff, and the harassment accounts began popping up, it then became disturbing.”

The “It Ends With Us” co-stars have been embroiled in a bitter and very public legal dispute since December when Lively filed a lawsuit against the actor and producer.

Following Lively’s initial lawsuit, Baldoni responded in January 2025 by filing a $400 million defamation suit against both his co-star and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.