It Ends With Us Author Shares Support for Blake Lively Amid Justin Baldoni Lawsuit
“You have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met,” Colleen Hoover writes to actress following news of sexual harassment lawsuit,
It Comes to an End With Us Support for Blake Lively in the Justin Baldoni lawsuit is expressed by the author.
After learning of the sexual harassment case, Colleen Hoover writes to the actress, “You have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive, and patient since the day we met.”
Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively had a falling out. She claims that the slander campaign followed.
“It Ends with Us” is only beginning to stir up controversy.
It possessed every element of a Hollywood blockbuster. Blake Lively is an A-list actress. Justin Baldoni, her director and co-star, is a vocal actor who is considered to be one of the most ardent supporters of women in the business—the first movie adaptation of buzzy bestselling novelist Colleen Hoover.
A disagreement between Lively and Baldoni caused the movie’s promotional tour to fail when it was released in early August. Nevertheless, the movie made $148 million at the box office, making it a success for Sony Pictures.
The compelling plot of the movie revolves around florist Lily Blossom Bloom (Lively), who reunites with her childhood sweetheart Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar) and falls deeply in love with Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni), a neurosurgeon who seems to have it all. Beneath the surface, the movie deals with unsettling trends in domestic violence.
Their animosity was further illuminated by a complaint that appeared on Saturday. According to Lively’s attorneys, the lawsuit was a staged attempt by Baldoni to “destroy” the “Gossip Girl” alum’s career and cover up his abuse in private.
Fans conjectured behind the scenes that Lively and Baldoni were at odds since they avoided each other on press junkets and showed up separately on red carpets.
Among the shocking allegations made in Lively’s complaint are that Baldoni has previously disregarded sexual consent and that his public relations team wrote in supplied text messages that they have the authority to “bury anyone.”
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni avoided each other during the press tour.
Fans pointed out that there were no pictures of the entire cast at the August 6 premiere of “It Ends with Us” in New York City.
Lively was photographed among co-stars Jenny Slate and Sklenar, Reynolds’ co-star and family friend Hugh Jackman, and her husband Ryan Reynolds, who attended the press junket for the movie.
However, when Baldoni walked the red carpet beside his wife, Emily Baldoni, and other friends and family members without his co-stars, people took notice.
Despite being the film’s director and star, Baldoni also failed to introduce the movie before Lively and Hoover attended the screening, according to People magazine. On August 9, three days later, the movie was shown in theaters.
According to Blake Lively’s allegation, Justin Baldoni plotted with a public relations team,
In order to combat Lively’s private claims of harassment through a public spear campaign, Baldoni, along with producer Jamey Heath, recruited a public relations team prior to the film’s premiere.
In the lawsuit, Lively alleges that Baldoni participated in sexually suggestive predatory behavior, stating that she and other members of the “It Ends with Us” cast and crew “experienced invasive unwelcome, unprofessional, and sexually inappropriate behavior.”
To guard against Lively’s potential claims going public, Baldoni partnered with seasoned publicist Jennifer Abel, who is mentioned in the case, and engaged crisis PR executive Melissa Nathan and her firm The Agency Group. Hybe America, which is partially controlled by Scooter Braun, who has a long-standing conflict with Lively’s closest friend Taylor Swift, is the owner of the Agency Group.
Online backlash and criticism of Lively increased throughout the film’s release as social media users and content producers attacked her actions during the promotion, claiming that she was more concerned with building her personal brand than advocating for the prevention of domestic abuse. However, according to Lively, a PR firm that Baldoni hired came up with this idea.
“What the public did not know was that Mr. Baldoni and his team did so in an effort to explain why many of the film’s cast and crew had unfollowed Mr. Baldoni on social media and were not appearing with him in public,” according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, which was submitted to the California Civil Rights Department as a prelude to a lawsuit, Lively and Reynolds “unfollowed Baldoni’s social media accounts” about a year prior.
Describe astroturfing. ‘Astroturfing’ was allegedly done by the PR staff.
According to the accusation, Nathan intended to fabricate rumors to influence the public against Lively while the movie was being promoted.
“Astroturfing” is defined in the filing as “the practice of publishing opinions or comments on the internet, in the media, etc. that appear to come from ordinary members of the public but actually come from a particular company or political group.” Nathan is accused of proposing this practice.
Baldoni’s teams allegedly tried to “shift” the narrative in favor of the actor by fabricating stories in a number of cases, according to the lawsuit. The filing claims that when the Daily Mail ran an article with the headline, “Is Blake Lively set to be CANCELLED?,” Abel and Nathan exchanged texts. Following the “tone deaf” Q&A, a series of “hard to watch” videos have emerged to promote “It Ends With Us.”
“You really outdid yourself with this piece,” Abel commented. “That’s why you hired me,” Nathan retorted. I am the greatest.
Additionally, the complaint claims that Abel conspired with Sara Nathan, an editor-at-large for the New York Post and Melissa Nathan’s sister, to spread unfavorable articles, one of which was published in the Post-owned tabloid Page Six and featured the headline, “Blake Lively approved final cut of ‘It Ends with Us’ amid feud with co-star director Justin Baldoni.”
According to the lawsuit, Melissa Nathan responded to Abel’s text message, “He wants to feel like she can be buried,” with her own response: “You know we can bury anyone.”
Another incident in the filing has Baldoni texting Abel a thread and social media post accusing Hailey Bieber of bullying, with the words, “This is what we would need.”
For a long time, Justin Baldoni has been regarded as a public spokesperson for women, underrepresented groups,
At the height of the #MeToo movement about ten years ago, Baldoni was regarded as one of Hollywood’s most prominent leading males to speak out against violence against women and the prevalent types of masculinity that afflicted the entertainment business.
He co-hosts the Webby Award-nominated podcast “Man Enough” with writer Liz Plank, which bills itself as “a safe environment for a range of perspectives” to openly talk about masculinity.
A message about preventing domestic abuse can be seen in his Instagram bio, which says: “Help is available if you or someone you know is facing domestic violence. For additional information, go to @nomoreorg.
During the film’s press tour, Baldoni advocated the No More Foundation, an organization that works to prevent sexual and domestic violence.
He received a 2024 Voices of Solidarity Award earlier this month from Vital Voices, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group devoted to eradicating domestic and sexual violence.
“I hope that we can teach our boys, while they are still young, that vulnerability is strength, sensitivity is a superpower, and empathy makes them powerful,” Baldoni wrote in an Instagram post about the occasion.
“There is nothing to apologize for; being a boy and a man is wonderful. And to cherish all their intricate and lovely aspects that contribute to their humanity,” Baldoni added in his caption.
“I believe with all my heart that once our boys learn to be safe spaces for themselves, our world will finally be a safe space for everyone.”