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"It Ends With Us" has been a resounding success. The movie stars Blake Lively, who's also one of the producers, and Justin Baldoni, who serves as director. It's based on a best-selling novel by Colleen Hoover, which was met with some controversy upon its release due to some of the topics it explores, including domestic violence and cycles of abuse.
Despite the film's great success, there have been various rumors surrounding its release, including disagreements between cast members. Below, we break down what has been said and what we know:
What's up with Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni?
One of the topics that has acquired the most attention is the apparent tension between lead stars Lively and Baldoni. There are a lot of rumors and none have been confirmed, but the two haven't taken any photos together since the film's release, with both of them attending different premieres. They also haven't promoted the film together, a missed opportunity considering they're a big bulk of the project's creative team.
Lively also doesn't follow Baldoni on Instagram.
The cast hasn't addressed any of these claims. Baldoni has praised Lively's work, sharing that she did much more than star in the film. “I don’t know if you know how smart and creative she really is," he said in an appearance on The Today Show. "I think she’s best known as an actress and of course she’s a fashion icon, but she’s so much more than that. She’s dynamic, creative. She had her hands in every part of this production and everything she touched, she made better.”
Does the source material romanticize domestic abuse?
Another controversial topic has been how the source material has been marketed. Both the novel and the film have been recommended as romances, with many readers and viewers claiming that the source material romanticizes charming and dangerous men.
Meredith Mansfield shared a TikTok that has gone viral, explaining some of what has gone on. "Justin is promoting the movie as it is, which is about DV (domestic violence), it's a very heavy topic, it's what the book focuses on," she said. "Whereas Blake and everybody else are promoting it like a rom-com and that's rubbing a lot of people the wrong way."
Over the past few days, Lively has shared links and phone numbers to the National Domestic Violence Hotline while promoting the film.