Every movie has its own distinct press rollout which can make or break the success of the film. Glen Powell promoted Twisters by doing silly little dances, which may or may not have helped the film rack up over $200 million at the domestic box office. But it only takes one small rift among the cast or even a TikTok trend to take what could be a typical release and turn it into a PR spectacle, for better or worse. Let’s call it the Don’t Worry Darling effect. And while the very successful It Ends With Us‘ seems to be experiencing that effect right now, it’s not necessarily positive.
It Ends With Us is the popular romance novel from Gen Z whisperer Colleen Hoover. Released in 2016, it became a hot topic amongst young adults on “BookTok” who dubbed themselves “CoHorts” and devoured Hoover’s books. The book touches on heavy themes like death, domestic abuse, and generational trauma, and comes from a personal place for the author. “This story was inspired by events in my life, but mostly from events in my mother’s life. It was very important to me, for that reason, to do her story justice,” Hoover told NY Daily News in 2016.
In 2019, actor Justin Baldoni announced that he would be starring and directing in a big-screen adaptation of the novel, and posted a photo of himself alongside Hoover. Soon enough, Blake Lively had signed on as Lily, sending TikTok into a frenzy. Lively also revealed she would produce the film. Everything seemed as it was going according to plan until the cast and crew began to do press.
Fans noticed that while promoting the film, Lively and Baldoni, who star as the central couple Lily and Ryle, had not taken any pictures together. This isn’t entirely unheard of, but people picked up on it. Then, some internet sleuths also realized that Lively, Hoover, and most of the cast had unfollowed Baldoni on Instagram, which is a major red flag in the year 2024. Baldoni was also seemingly doing his own press, appearing alone at events.
It should be noted that on-screen, Baldoni and Lively portray the somewhat loving couple (at first) Lily and Ryle, before Ryle starts becoming aggressive and abusive. But the abuse element of the story is largely absent from any promotion material and the conversation during the press tour has seemed disconnected from the weight and reality of the story with some tonally peculiar moments. For instance, when asked about how the story might connect with victims of abuse, Lively responded to questions with jokes. Lively has also been criticized for using It Ends With Us to promote her new haircare line, in addition to her drink line, Betty Buzz. Lively even got involved with a flower/booze pop-up in conjunction with the press tour about the movie, which is, again, a serious story about violent abuse. The pop-up served cocktails inspired by the movie, featuring none other than Ryan Reynolds’ Aviation gin (Reynolds also participated in the press tour by teaming with his mom and film co-star Brandon Sklenar for a gimmicky, cutesy interview). After the initial backlash, Lively posted an Instagram story (which is already gone) where she shared resources for women who are experiencing abuse. (Her hair products are still safe on the Grid, though.)
As for Baldoni, he has, on the surface, said all the right things to present himself as an ally. Which lines up, as he has a history of advocating for men to be more emotionally vulnerable, even going to far as to write an entire self-help book titled Man Enough, which was met with some backlash from the internet.
He told CBS, “I wanted to make sure this film always had a female gaze and I was never putting myself into it.” He also downplayed any focus on box office success, telling People, “If it’s just a big commercial success, that’s on one side of it. The other side of it, for both [production company] Wayfarer Studios and myself is… it’s about that one person who’s in a similar situation to Lily.”
While at the premiere, Baldoni seemingly even took himself out of the running to direct the sequel, nominating Lively for the job. Was that an acknowledgement of Lively’s role as a creative driver on the first film, or something more passive aggressive?
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Lively and Baldoni may have disagreed about the final cut of the film. Lively reportedly commissioned a cut of the movie from editor Shane Reid, who was an editor on Deadpool & Wolverine, when she was unsatisfied with the direction, but it’s unclear if that contributed to the final cut. Lively did confirm that Reynolds, who is not credited as a producer, contributed to the script, something that screenwriter Christy Hall was unaware of.
Meanwhile, other stars of the film seem to be avoiding questions on the subject. Jenny Slate, who stars as Lily’s friend Allysa, dodged questions about Baldoni while at the premiere, as did Hoover. “I think he did a great job. They all did a great job,” she said, before moving into the next question.
As the noise and speculation continued to grow, gas got thrown on the fire when an unnamed source told Page Six that Baldoni created an “extremely difficult” set for the cast, and made Lively “uncomfortable.” The source added, “It’s not just Blake. None of the cast enjoyed working with Justin…They certainly didn’t talk to him at the premiere.” Then PEOPLE jumped on the bandwagon: “All is not what it seems,” a set source told the magazine. “There is much more to this story. The principal cast and [author] Colleen Hoover will have nothing to do with him.”
A source then told TMZ that an on-set encounter made Lively feel “fat-shamed” by Baldoni, which caused more tension between the two. Reportedly, for a scene in which Baldoni would have to lift his co-star, he went to the on-set trainer and asked how much Lively weighed in order to protect his back from injury. Lively had given birth in February 2023 and this allegedly made her feel uncomfortable.
Naturally, things got weirder from there. Baldoni recently hired Melissa Nathan of The Agency Group as a crisis PR manager to handle the backlash. Nathan specializes in “media cleanup and brand management.” She is known for representing Johnny Depp during the Amber Heard trial.
So, what does it all mean? The film is already a success, so if a sequel comes and Baldoni isn’t involved (which seems like the most likely outcome), then that’ll be a clue that Baldoni and Lively do not like each other. On the other hand, there have been theories that all this drama was merely a marketing ploy for the film, so who knows? Regardless, the conversation about the film keeps revolving around these concerning rumors about on-set behavior, cringe interview moments, and a general lack of awareness, moving further away from the actual point of the story, which is a shame and a pattern with a film about domestic abuse that has been repackaged as a romantic comedy (to the furstration of some moviegoers.
There might be some lessons to be learned here, it’s just unfortunate that it had to happen to the groups of young women who flocked to the movie theater possibly expecting a sunny romantic comedy, only to be served with a puzzling portrayal of a violent relationship, painted in a flowery haze.
For more information and resources on domestic violence, visit No More.
