Entertainment

Every controversy surrounding It Ends With Us and why the internet is mad at Blake Lively

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3m ago

Aug 21, 2024 / 6325 Views

Evan Walker

By now, everyone with an internet connection would have heard of the many controversies surrounding the press tour for It Ends With Us. With the buzz the movie has generated within just a few days of its release, one can’t help but wonder if the drama has PR stunt written all over it, or is there really bad blood brewing between the co-stars. Curious about the drama and beef? We give a low-down on every controversy around It Ends With Us, plus what the internet has to say.

The movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling book It Ends With Us drew internet-wide criticism after a flurry of behind-the-scenes pictures surfaced on social media. While the book itself struck the match of the current scandal (more on that later), it was the cast, as well as leading star Blake Lively’s eccentric outfits as Lily Bloom that truly set the fire ablaze. Things went further south when eagle-eyed fans noticed an exchange of cold vibes among co-stars at the movie premiere. In the wake of the release, no amount of floral book covers and barbie pink wall displays seemed able to overshadow the brewing drama, leaving the internet wondering as to what had truly occurred to cause it.

What is It Ends With Us about?

If the tsunami of social media posts haven’t made the synopsis of the movie clear, let us help you out. Based on an emotionally charged book which has landed in the hands of 8 million people, the plot of It Ends With Us revolves around 23-year-old Lily Blossom Bloom (portrayed by Blake Lively) who finds herself in an abusive relationship.

When Lily moves to Boston, a booming flower shop and a chance encounter with a devastatingly handsome neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (portrayed by Justin Baldoni) allows her to embrace the possibility of a fresh life — away from a past and a hometown tainted by her father’s abusive behaviour. But in a gloomy twist of fate, the person she comes to love becomes the person she once hated — a problematic man plagued with abusive tendencies, much like her father had been.

In between all the chaos that clouds her life, an old flame, Atlas Corrigan (portrayed by Brandon Sklenar), reappears as a guiding light — just as Ryle’s lead role takes a back seat. And as Lily’s character contemplates leaving or staying with Ryle (mirroring the difficulties women face when escaping the shackles of domestic violence), one look at her new-born daughter is all it takes for Lily to realise that the cycle of abuse will ‘end with them’.

But has Blake Lively’s interviews and discreet cast coNFLicts occupied much of the buzz around a movie that is meant to inspire necessary conversations around serious themes of domestic violence and generational trauma? Below, we discuss just that.

A deep dive into every It Ends With Us movie controversy

The Colleen Hoover drama

It ends with us controversy — Colleen Hoover with the cast at a surprise screening of *It Ends With Us* on June 15. (Image: Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images)

The second most followed author on Goodreads received her own fair share of heavy backlash when she decided to launch an It Ends With Us-inspired colouring book. For context, the original book and the movie feature graphic details and the story does not fall under the genre of a rom-com even if it is marketed as one. When the readers pointed this out, Hoover retracted the decision and issued a public apology. But the It Ends With Us movie controversy did not end there.

Atria Books will not move forward with the publication of The Official It Ends with Us Coloring Book. pic.twitter.com/IfnChSlv9X
— Atria Books (@AtriaBooks) January 11, 2023

It Ends With Us has been subject to scrutiny — thanks in part to the misogynistic tropes and hollow girl power message that Colleen Hoover and the book in particular have been accused of fostering. For one thing, readers find it concerning that Lily lets her abuser co-parent her child, and that no judicial action is taken against Ryle for his heinous acts of violence.

However, in a recent interview, director Justin Baldoni called out critics who said that It Ends With Us “justifies domestic violence”. Watch the interview below.

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Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni

Another It Ends With Us movie controversy gained traction when Blake Lively was seen bundled up in floaty outfits while parading through shooting locations in New Jersey. However, the drama took a serious turn at the New York premiere when fans noticed that director and lead actor Justin Baldoni and the rest of the cast maintained a suspicious distance from each other, with no interview or picture of them all taken together. What further fueled the internet frenzy was the fact that none of Baldoni’s co-stars appeared to follow him back on Instagram. Coincidence? The internet doesn’t think so.

Researching why none of the It Ends With Us cast and the author follow Justin Baldoni on social media and why he didn’t introduce the film at the premiere and why he hasn’t done press with anyone else pic.twitter.com/cwaK5FbZd3
— Maicol 📺 (@michaelcollado) August 7, 2024

The rumours of there being a feud further gained traction when Baldoni agreed to there being friction on set in an interview with Elle UK. The star said, “There’s always friction that happens when you make a movie like this.” It obviously does not help that Baldoni hired Johnny Depp’s crisis PR manager in the days following one of the most controversial premieres.

But why is the internet mad at Blake Lively? The Gossip Girl star has been getting bad press for promoting her haircare line and talking about her ‘on-theme’ floral outfits at press tours of the movie. Lively’s seemingly callous attitude towards the heavy themes of the movie left a bad taste in fans’ mouths. Amidst the backlash, the actress later took to her Instagram story to share helpline numbers for victims in need of support. In a counter-response, she also told the BBC that “She (Lily) is not just a survivor or a victim, and the events that happened to her are not her identity and they do not define her.”

Since becoming the subject of public backlash, the actress has shifted her tone, beginning by addressing the larger issue of domestic violence. However, the audience still thinks that the vivid, light-hearted marketing of the movie is insensitive and tone-deaf.

Regardless, Lively’s interviews have became meme fodder and this is what one of the spectators on Instagram had to say:

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What is Ryan Reynolds’ role in the It Ends With Us movie controversy?

It ends with us controversy - Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds — Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds at the New York premiere of It Ends With Us on Aug 6. (Image: Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

Blake Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds did have a role to play in the making of the film, albeit a small one. Apparently, Reynolds added his creative touch to an important scene in the movie. “The iconic rooftop scene, my husband actually wrote it. Nobody knows that but you now. But he wrote it. He works on everything I do. I work on everything he does. So his wins, his celebrations are mine and mine are his,” Lively told E! News.

A source told Daily Mail that Justin Baldoni took Reynolds’ involvement “personally”; however, Baldoni has praised Reynolds in a one-on-one conversation with TODAY, calling him “generous” and “a creative genius”.

Later, critics took to X to comment that the press run was focused more on the couple than on the crux of the story: Domestic violence.

Is all of this just a PR stunt?

Considering It Ends With Us has grossed USD 110 million at the global box office in just its first week, it would not be a reach to suspect that the drama had all been a PR stunt. After all, it stands to reason that everyone with an internet connection would have heard of the movie by now. And isn’t that the motive of a good marketing ploy?

Still, it cannot be denied that, despite vibrant floral displays and bright beaming smiles, the overall vibe among the movie’s co-stars has appeared rather thorny. And based on his conversation with Entertainment Tonight, Justin Baldoni seems to have surrendered his role as the director of the sequel, It Starts With Us.

“I think that there are better people for that one. I think Blake Lively’s ready to direct. That’s what I think,” the director said.