The book It Ends With Us was recently adapted into a hit movie that made over $200 million globally. However, the success at the box office has not prevented the onslaught of heated drama and controversies surrounding the film and its cast. From disputes on set between cast members to insensitive interviews and advertising, It Ends With Us is bursting with drama. 

It Ends With Us is a book by Colleen Hoover that follows the story of Lily Bloom as she navigates her adult life and difficult relationships. The book explores heavy themes of domestic abuse and abusive relationships. It has received significant backlash for how Hoover navigates those topics in the book. Some believe that Hoover romanticizes domestic abuse in the book, therefore insensitively portraying the topic.

In the movie adaptation, Blake Lively plays Lily Bloom, an actress best known for her role in Gossip Girl. Justin Baldoni plays Ryle Kincaid, Lily’s abusive boyfriend, and is the movie’s director. Most of the ongoing drama revolves around conflicts between cast members, specifically between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. 

Although neither actor has officially confirmed the drama, the cast members’ behavior and Colleen Hoover suggest that Lively and Baldoni had intense disputes throughout production and continued during the press tour. 

During the New York City premiere, Baldoni attended but did not take a single photo with any cast members. Some fans have speculated on what could have caused this rift. In contrast, Lively and the other cast members took many group photos.

In addition, while many of the cast members participated in group interviews, every single one of Baldoni’s interviews was solo. Further sleuthing by fans even discovered that Lively, Hoover, and nearly all the other principal cast members unfollowed Baldoni on Instagram. 

What could have caused such a rift between Baldoni and the cast? Many have speculated that creative differences between Lively and Baldoni caused most of the rift. Furthermore, Lively even commissioned her own cut of the film to be edited after Baldoni had already edited the film. 

And according to Lively herself, her husband Ryan Reynolds was even in charge of writing an iconic scene from the book, which some have questioned whether this led to more creative controversy between Lively and Baldoni.

Lively has also alluded to conflicts over the film’s soundtrack, explaining how an unnamed member of the movie’s team had “begged” her to remove a Lana Del Rey song from the movie. While Baldoni was not explicitly mentioned regarding the song controversy, the magnitude of creative differences during production likely created tension between Lively and Baldoni.

As fans continue to speculate that the cast of It Ends With Us is feuding with Baldoni, many seem to take Baldoni’s side, especially after Lively’s perhaps questionable actions regarding the movie. Despite the intense and sensitive topics of the movie, Lively’s promotion of the film as a light-hearted romance has led many to question her pureness regarding the drama. Lively even encouraged her fans to “grab your friends and wear your florals,” a stark contrast to Baldoni’s serious discussions of domestic abuse when promoting the film. 

Drama seemed to follow nearly every aspect of the movie, with controversy occurring even before filming began. The selection of Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni as the main leads caused controversy as they are about a decade older than the characters they portray.  Most fans were surprised by these casting choices, with concerns that the actors were way too old to be able to portray such young characters accurately. 

Furthermore, photos of the outfits for Lily Bloom were released, and outfits far from Lily’s style were shown in the books, causing many fans to mock the movie before the first trailer even came out. The outfits were considered strange, frumpy, and unrealistic, causing some to question the seriousness of the fashion choices. 

Blake Lively, however, seems to be the center of the controversy, as many seemed upset with her approach to discussing the movie. During the press tour, Lively promoted her hair brand, Blake Brown, and her drink brands, Betty Buzz and Betty Booze. Her use of the movie to market her products has caused many fans to think of her as shallow and not concerned enough with the movie’s message.  

Despite the controversy she has brought to It Ends With Us, Blake Lively, being a well-known actress, brought star power to the project. So, even though Lively hasn’t been perfect regarding her movie promotion, she most likely effectively helped promote the film.

It Ends With Us has proven its success at the box office by earning millions of dollars. Many have applauded the representation the movie provides for those suffering from domestic abuse and abusive relationships. 

However, has the heated drama following this movie tainted its legacy and affected its impact? Will the endless drama of It Ends With Us cause the film to be remembered more for the conflicts between cast members and messy press tours than for its real message? Considering all the off-camera drama, it does not look like it will be answered anytime soon.