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Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: John Nacion/Variety via Getty Images, Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images
Is there behind-the-scenes drama with the cast of It Ends With Us? TikTok seems to think so. Blake Lively, Colleen Hoover, and the rest of the main cast did not take any photos or seem to acknowledge director and co-star Justin Baldoni at the New York premiere of the movie on August 6. Hoover doesn’t even follow the lead actor of her debut film on Instagram, despite fans insisting that she did during the early promotion of the movie. In fact, none of the main cast members follow him, except for Hasan Minhaj. While Hoover and the cast have never directly said that there have been issues with Baldoni, even while doing press with him as recently as June, the internet sleuths believe there’s some tension behind the scenes. The theory really took hold after Jenny Slate, who plays Baldoni’s sister and Lively’s best friend in the film, avoided discussing Baldoni’s job as a director at the New York premiere, implying that it was an “intense job” and that she’d never want to take on two important roles in a production. As for Hoover, she briefly squeaked an “I think he did a great job” to Extra, but when pressed on Baldoni’s directing, she switched to plural pronouns (“I think they all did …”), pulling a Victoria Justice to share the praise the whole cast.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, there were reportedly several different versions of the film made, with one commission by Lively from Deadpool & Wolverine editor Shane Reid. However, none of the insiders claim to THR that there is any bad blood between the two stars. So, why is the cast avoiding him? And why has Baldoni (per THR) reportedly now hired Melissa Nathan, the veteran crisis PR manager who represented Johnny Depp during that high-profile trial against Amber Heard?
As social media is trying to piece together what happened, one theory has been that Lively and Ryan Reynolds were more involved than Baldoni would’ve liked and they allegedly had creative differences on how to tell the story.
During the film premiere, Lively told E! News that Reynolds was deeply involved in one of the most iconic scenes in the story — Lively is credited as a producer. Reynolds is not. She explained, “The iconic rooftop scene, my husband actually wrote it. Nobody knows that, but you now … He works on everything I do. I work on everything he does. So his wins, his celebrations are mine and mine are his.” This was news to the screenwriter of the movie, Christy Hall, who had no idea of Reynold’s involvement in the script — she even said it was the hardest scene for her to write. Hall told People, “There were a couple of little things that I thought had been improvised. Like when he says, ‘Pretty please with a cherry on top,’ and she talks about the maraschino cherries. When I saw a cut I was like, ‘Oh, that’s cute. That must have been a cute improvised thing.’ So if I’m being told that Ryan wrote that, then great, how wonderful.”
In her recent Vogue profile, Lively shares her passion for analyzing and rewriting a script rather than write something from scratch herself. “A blank page is not nearly as exciting to me as starting with a script and finding something people have overlooked. Saying no, no, no, there’s something there! To me, it’s a treasure hunt. And so when I can see the treasure, then I get to be an archaeologist. I get to excavate, I get to carve it out and find this thing and show people the value in it. That, to me, is what I love.” She must’ve been exhausted during her excavation because she claimed that working behind the scenes was harder than acting in front of the camera. Maybe Baldoni was wearing too many hats as a lead actor and director, causing friction on set, and Lively and Reynolds felt like they had to jump in to save the movie— that might be supported by Slate’s comments on not wanting to do both jobs at once. Right now, it seems like Hoover is close with Lively and distancing herself from Baldoni in the process, possibly after being caught up in production drama.
On the red carpet, Baldoni got choked up, thinking about the dark place the film had taken him to. “There were a lot of times where I would have to go privately into a room and just cry or shake it out and try to get [Ryle] out of me or that energy out of me,” he explained to THR before tearing up. Perhaps he wasn’t able to make the switch when he had to put his directing hat on, and he asked the cast to give him some space.
Some conspiracy theorists fans think the buzz around the It Ends With Us press tour feels like a PR stunt to get people talking about the movie — landing it somewhere between Don’t Worry Darling and Anyone But You. “Idk about all the theories, I honestly think it’s just promo to get ticket sales,” said one TikToker.
The main story of the novel centers around domestic violence at the hands of Baldoni’s character, so if they wanted the original message of the story to ring true, why would Baldoni be all buddy-buddy with Lively during the press tour? Ryle isn’t supposed to be romanized in any way, and maybe the team wants to make that explicitly clear. During the premiere, he told ET, “This isn’t my night. This is a night for all the women we made this movie for. This is a night for Blake, this is a night for Colleen.” But wouldn’t a simple statement from him on the lack of interactions with Lively and Hoover clear all of this up? And how many movies are bad men are out there, only for them to be chummy on the carpet with the cast. It is acting, after all.
Other fans have criticized Lively & Co.’s promotion of the film. “Grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see it,” says Lively in a promo for the movie on their official Instagram page. “Grab your friends, wear your florals…. but forget the sole purpose of this film is to raise awareness to domestic violence ? Wth is this press lol only Justin sharing the message is wild,” wrote one commenter on the video.
When asked what message Lively hopes domestic-abuse survivors take away from the film, she hoped that they would remember they contain multitudes and that their abuse doesn’t define them: “This is a story that covers domestic violence but it’s not about domestic violence.” Some commenters supported Lively’s answers, while others felt like it was tone-deaf. “I think this answers the reason why her costar does not want to be involved with the promotion of this movie! Blake Lively wants to make this a Fluff,” wrote one commenter on the video.
Others were wondering why Lively’s new product line was released so closely to the movie’s premiere. “Why are we using a movie about [domestic violence] to promote your haircare brand,” asked @Nadiagreads on TikTok, referring to Lively’s Blake Brown hairline that was released last week, presumably timed to the film’s premiere. “Why is the PR packet funny and fluffy?” “THIS RIGHT HERE. Justin is the main one speaking about the severity and importance of this movie,” wrote one TikTok comment.
The real drama could very well be that everyone needs to log off. Baldoni has had nothing but kind things to say about Lively throughout this entire process. On August 8, Baldoni spoke with Today, praising her performance. “I don’t know if you know how smart and creative she really is. I think she’s best known as an actress, and, of course, she’s a fashion icon, but she is so much more than that,” he shared. “She is a dynamic creative. She had her hands in every part of this production, and everything she touched made better.” He’s even suggested that Lively get promoted to director for the next film, “I think there are better people for that one, I think Blake Lively is ready to direct.” Other cast members, like Kevin McKidd, thanked his “good friend” Baldoni on the carpet. At the end of the day, we may never know what really went down, if anything at all. But don’t be surprised if Hoover’s next book takes place on a movie set, where the two leads start butting heads over creative differences while trying to maintain a cool façade for fans. It practically writes itself!
This post has been updated throughout.
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