Blake Lively "Felt Very Vulnerable And Upset" Over 'It Ends With Us' Drama
Blake Lively's It Ends With Us was one of our most-anticipated movies of 2024. The film, based on the Colleen Hoover bookof the same name, follows Lily Bloom (played by Lively), a flower shop owner who finds herself in an abusive relationship after she falls in love with Ryle, played by Justin Baldoni. Throughout the movie's press run, Baldoni spoke extensively on domestic violence awareness.
"If a Lily Bloom in real life can sit in this theater and maybe make a different choice for herself than was made for her, maybe she sees herself on that screen and chooses something different for herself, that's why I made the movie," the actor and director told ET at the film's New York premiere. Fans were less thrilled with Lively's choice to almost exclusively promote the film as a romance movie (that is, until she finally shared domestic violence resources in an August 13 Instagram story). Here's what Blake Lively has said about the It Ends With Us movie so far.
September 10, 2024 — Blake Lively Was "Surprised" At The 'It Ends With Us' Drama
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According to a People source, Blake Lively was "pretty surprised at the backlash and drama," which "felt out of control to her."
"She initially felt very vulnerable and upset," the source continues. "During the promotion of the movie, not one day went by when she was not in the news in an unfavorable light. She's just not used to this kind of drama."
Despite the response to her It Ends With Us press, Lively "enjoys working and will continue to push forward projects that she's excited about," which includes A Simple Favor 2 with Anna Kendrick.
August 13, 2024 — Blake Lively Shares Resources To Instagram
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After telling fans to "grab your friends and wear your florals," Blake Lively shared an Instagram story on August 13 detailing domestic violence awareness and resources.
"1 in 4 women aged 18 and older in the US alone have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime," she says in the Instagram story. "Intimate partner violence affects all genders, including more than 12 million people every year in the United States. Everyone deserves relationships free from domestic violence.
August 8, 2024 — Blake Lively Details Her Process Of Making 'It Ends With Us'
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During an interview with Brit + Co's Chloe Williams, Blake Lively revealed how much of her personal life made it into It Ends With Us (and not just because her sister Robyn Lively makes a cameo).
"I took the relationships with my mother and my sisters or my children and my feelings, and I mean it's all over this film," she says. "I'll never tell anybody but when I sit in that theater with my loved ones, they see themselves all over this film, moments we've had together, things we've said to each other...I feel so proud and it's so personal to me."
"This story is told with empathy," she continues. "She leads with empathy but also the storytelling leads with empathy."
August 7, 2024 — Blake Lively Talks That Taylor Swift 'Folklore' Needle Drop
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After the It Ends With Us trailer (and later the movie) nearly broke the internet thanks to its inclusion of Taylor Swift's heartbreaking "My Tears Ricochet," Blake Lively told The Hollywood Reporterthat any Taylor Swift song would have been an incredible addition to the movie.
“All of her songs are great, we could have put any song up there. We could have done like a voice memo song, it would have been the best song to have ever been in a movie.”
August 6, 2024 — Blake Lively Reveals Ryan Reynolds Wrote An 'It Ends With Us' Scene
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During an interview for the movie, Blake Lively revealed that husband Ryan Reynolds actually had pretty specific involvement in the process. (Although this created another level of drama because the movie's timeline suggested they could have worked on It Ends With Us during the Hollywood strikes. A Variety source claims he wrote it in April 2023 before the strikes were called).
"The iconic rooftop scene, my husband actually wrote it," Blake Lively tells E! News."He works on everything I do, I work on everything he does. So his wins, his celebrations are mine and mine are his."
She also points out that some of his clothing made it into Lily Bloom's wardrobe. "I have a few of my husband's shirts and socks randomly in the movie," she tells People, as well as "some of Gigi Hadid's sweaters in the movie."
The National Domestic Violence Hotline offers confidential, and consistent, support. Text "START" to 88788. Read up on the latest It Starts With Us movie news.
Lead image via Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images