The drama between the cast and crew of It Ends With Us, the film adaption of one of many Colleen Hoover romance novels, hasn’t ended just yet. Blake Lively, the face of main character Lily Bloom and one of the movie’s producers, filed a legal complaint against co-star and director, Justin Baldoni on December 20. The complaint accused Baldoni of sexual harassment on set and orchestrating a smear campaign to destroy Lively’s reputation. Baldoni has since sued The New York Times for $250 million over its reporting of Lively’s accusations against him. While this instance is the most recent development of issues connected to the film, there have been a string of accusations and complaints since its release in August.
‘It Ends With Us’ Press Tour
The fragile story of Lily Bloom and Ryle Kincaid has long been a concern for fans. Hoover faced previous criticisms of romanticizing domestic violence in the novel, a claim which was carried on by the lack of addressing the message of domestic violence and its reverberations in the film’s press tour. Instead of offering resources and being a champion of support for survivors, the press highlighted whimsical flowers and perfectly pink carpets. Lively took a lot of heat for the controversial redirection in focus, with a significant promotional aspect being the launch of Blake Brown Beauty, her haircare brand. Her emphasis on the film’s “love story” and her silence in the deeper conversation came off as entitled and neglectful.
Fans were begging for some accountability and responsibility, to which Baldoni answered. Seemingly becoming the ‘black sheep’ on set, Baldoni utilized his platform to speak on domestic violence with organizations such as NO MORE. “While I can never fully understand your pain and all you have endured, I want you to know that you are never alone in this fight, he said in his Survivor Love Letter. “We are with you. You are not just surviving; you are thriving, and in your thriving, you inspire us all…”
There was clear tension between the stars, which further escalated after fans noticed that members of the cast, including Hoover, Lively, and Jenny Slate (who plays Allysa in the movie) unfollowed Baldoni on social media; he, however, remained as one of their followers. Making matters worse, Baldoni was absent in premiere photos, premiere press events, and any premiere interviews featuring Lively and Slate. The leading ladies wouldn’t even mention the co-star and director. A video of Baldoni’s interview with NBC’s Today Show also went viral after he hesitated, stuttered, and was visibly uncomfortable while answering, “Is there something about Blake that we don’t know and what was it like working with her?”
The audience took Baldoni’s obvious discomfort and isolation as a signal to attack Lively and other cast members for having a Hollywood elitist perspective and a disgusting approach to the film. Other cast and crew mates tried staying neutral in an attempt to reframe the narrative to focus on the project.
Strategic Smear Campaign Accusations
However, the tables turned in late December when Lively accused Baldoni’s PR representative, Jennifer Abel, and PR crisis team, managed by Melissa Nathan, of a calculated smear campaign against the actress. Nathan, founder of The Agency Group, is notorious for expertise and skill in celebrity crisis and reputation management, previously representing entertainment professionals such as Drake, Johnny Depp, and Logan Paul. Abel denies that she was ever subpoenaed after the release of her private text messages to The New York Times. In these messages was seemingly a plan to “bury” Lively in anticipation of drama after her husband, Ryan Reynolds, unfollowed Baldoni via Instagram. Baldoni cited an X thread that called out Hailey Bieber for bullying in a text to Abel saying, “This is what we would need.” The back and forth follows between Abel and Nathan on August 8, conspiring against Lively. Abel initiated the effort, saying, “I’m having reckless thoughts of wanting to plant pieces this week of how horrible Blake is to work with. Just to get ahead of it.”
In response to the backlash, Abel states the plans remained to the confines of the text messages, as her PR team never needed to take such extreme actions as a smear campaign.
“No negative press was ever facilitated, no social combat plan, although we were prepared for it as it’s our job to be ready for any scenario, but we didn’t have to implement anything because the internet was doing the work for us,” said Abel. She added: “…as the texts show, we sophomorically reveled and again, joked, privately to each other about the internets feedback to the woman whose team was making our lives incredibly difficult over the course of the campaign. I’m human. The long hours, months of preparation, on top of my day to day scope… it felt good to see that although we were prepared, we didn’t have to do anything over the top to protect our client.”
Sexual Harassment Claims
Connecting to Lively’s most recent claims, more drama surfaced on TMZ around the time of the movie’s release which painted Baldoni as the “bad guy.” Baldoni allegedly expressed concern with a scene in the movie that involved lifting Lively up, as he had pre-existing back pain. The trademarked blonde took offense to this, as she had just delivered her baby with Reynolds earlier in February 2024. Lively was also left feeling uneasy with an on-air kiss, which she claims Baldoni lingered slightly too long after.
In the legal complaint, which also listed Wayfarer Studios, Baldoni’s production company, as a defendant, both he and Wayfarer CEO Jamey Heath were accused of repeated sexual harassment on set among other inappropriate behavior.
In her filing, Lively alleges that Baldoni showed her videos and images of nude women, improvised intimate moments in the film and added gratuitous sexual content. She also accuses Baldoni of making comments about her weight which led to an incident where he secretly sent her to a weight loss specialist. Additionally, he was accused of displaying a lack of boundaries while she was undressed, including an incident that occurred while she was breastfeeding.
This behavior described in the filing allegedly led to a meeting that took place in January and was attended by Lively, her husband, Reynolds, Baldoni and others involved in the making of the film to address the “hostile environment” on set. Attendees of the meeting were met with a list of demands including that there be no more mention of her body as well as no more sexual scenes be included in the film and that an intimacy coordinator be on set.
This is more than petty cast drama. These new accusations question the legal and ethical actions taken on set, which regardless of clashing approaches and personalities, should foster a comfortable and safe work environment for all.
Lively’s complaint states that she, “never sought out conflict with Wayfarer, Ms Baldoni, or Mr Heath, but instead consistently attempted to speak up for a safe and respectful workplace privately in the hopes of protecting herself, as well as the cast and crew, without jeopardizing a Film that she believed could make a difference in people’s lives,”
Shortly after the complaint was filed, Baldoni was dropped by his management.
Baldoni’s Response
Soon after Lively’s complaint was filed, Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freeman responded to the allegations. “These claims are completely false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media,” Freeman said.
Though Baldoni has not made a public comment on the matter, he filed a lawsuit against The New York Times on December 31. In the lawsuit, Baldoni claims that Lively and the Times “cherry-picked” communications out of context, even omitting texts, creating a false narrative.
For example, one text message seemed to show Nathan and Abel celebrating after a Daily Mail story was published about Lively’s “tone-deaf” promotion of the film and resurfaced interviews. In full context, the texts appear to show that Nathan and Abel were joking about taking credit for the article.
Baldoni also refutes the sexual assault allegations made against both him and Heath. In the lawsuit, the claim that Heath showed Lively a nude video of his wife, which the Times labeled as pornography, is described as “absurd.” The lawsuit further states that the inappropriate behavior detailed in Lively’s claims is “exaggerated and misleading,” even stating that Lively’s sexual harassment allegations were part of a smear campaign of her own to acquire full control of the film’s production.
Additionally, the suit claims that Lively’s husband, Reynolds, berated Baldoni and accused him of “fat-shaming” Lively during a tense meeting. Baldoni’s team also claims that Reynolds pressured Baldoni’s agency to have him dropped as director of the film.
As for the claims made regarding the meeting in January of last year where attendees were met with a list of demands, which is a large focus of the Times article, Baldoni’s suit claims that a list was never presented to Baldoni or the Wayfarer team.
The New York Times has defended its reporting.
Social Media Reactions
Several celebrities have come out in support of Lively including Amber Heard, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-stars, America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, and Alexis Bledel as well as Paul Feig who directed Lively in her 2018 film A Simple Favor.
Heard, who was in the news during her defamation trial with ex-husband Johnny Depp in 2022, said to NBC, “Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying ‘A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on.’ I saw this firsthand and up close. It’s as horrifying as it is destructive,”
Hoover also took to Instagram to show her support writing, “@blakelively, You have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met. Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.”
While most of the internet seems to be siding with Lively, with many stating that any of Lively’s past behaviors do not justify her abuse, some reactions — especially to Hoover’s statements — are mixed.
It’s sad to see the cast on opposing sides. Despite the lack of chemistry in real life, the stars fooled the cameras. It Ends With Us reeled in a whopping $340 million in box office sales, becoming the “highest-grossing romantic drama since 2018’s A Star is Born,” according to Yahoo News. Its legacy is tainted by the unfolding accusations, unethical behaviors, and lack of focus on the film’s intense subject matter. As new information continues to emerge, we will see how this conflict unfolds in court.
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