Blake Lively sparks outrage with comments on domestic violence film

For several days, the media has been abuzz with the adaptation of the romantic drama "It Ends With Us." Unfortunately, cinema fans' attention is more focused on the on-set drama than the production itself. We explain where the scandal involving Blake Lively, known for her role as Serena van der Woodsen in "Gossip Girl," began.

Blake Lively became famous thanks to her role as Serena van der Woodsen in "Gossip Girl," who was considered a true icon on the Upper East Side. Over time, people loved her as a celebrity, and she maintained the image of the "girl next door" and the ideal mother and wife in the media for a long time. Unfortunately, everything changed this year when the actress joked about an edited Duchess Kate photo in Photoshop. All this was to promote her own brand...

For many months, Blake Lively had the opportunity to play the lead role in the adaptation of "It Ends With Us." The film had a good start because the director and one of the leading roles, Justin Baldoni, likes to take on productions with challenging themes. This time, he aimed to portray the problem of domestic violence. Unfortunately, on set, he had a serious fallout with Blake Lively, who wanted to make a romantic comedy and completely disregarded the seriousness of the situation her character, Lily Bloom, found herself in.

On the first pages of the book "It Ends With Us," we meet the main character, Lily Bloom, who meets Ryle Kincaid after moving to Boston (Justin Baldoni plays his role). As their relationship develops, the man engages in more abusive behaviors towards his partner, who fears for the safety of their child, who is soon to be born. Baldoni himself mentioned in interviews that it was hard for him to portray the main character, and after some scenes, he needed a moment to recover.

There were a lot of times where I would have to go privately into a room and just cry or shake it out and try to get [Ryle] out of me or that energy out of me, Justin Baldoni recalled to The Hollywood Reporter.

Blake Lively, on the other hand, did not want Lily Bloom to get the "victim label."

Lily is a survivor and a victim and while they are huge labels, these are not her identity. She defines herself and I think it's deeply empowering that no one else can define you. We really feel like we delivered a story that’s emotional and it’s fun, and it’s funny, and it’s painful, and it’s scary, and it’s tragic and it’s inspiring and that’s what life is, Blake Lively told the BBC.

Of course, each actor can have completely different feelings about their roles. However, internet users were outraged by Blake Lively's subsequent comments, where she encouraged movie fans to "bring friends and wear floral" for the screenings. This was taken as disregarding the seriousness of the domestic violence issue.

Like the rest of the cast, Blake Lively is currently giving numerous interviews about the production. During an online conversation, Reporter Jake Hamilton asked her how people identifying with the film's characters could talk to her about their problems.

Maybe asking for, like, my address, or my phone number. Or, like, location share?! I could just location-share you and then we could... - she suddenly broke off, laughing - I'm a Virgo, so like, are we talking logistics, are we talking emotionally?

Internet users didn't hide their outrage at Blake's attitude, who, according to fans, should have used the film's promotion to speak loudly about the issue of domestic violence rather than promoting herself.

I can't believe this. She has become such a diva; That was a very important and good question. Imagine someone identifying with a character, and she responds in this way ; She's not a Virgo. She just has no class ; Seriously, girl? ; Drama and lack of class, what's wrong with her? - these were some of the comments under the interview excerpt on TikTok.

Internet users also noticed that Blake Lively and Colleen Hoover (the author of the drama) unfollowed the film's director on social media. They usually give interviews in a female group. During one recorded conversation, they discussed who they would be if they didn't enter the creative industry. Jenny Slate (playing Ryle's sister) joked about shiny horses, and they even checked the compatibility of their zodiac signs. At the end of the interview hosted by Lively, she added:

We didn't talk about our movie at all. Thanks for joining us - Blake said, to which her co-star responded with laughter.

The actress herself shared an excerpt of the conversation on her Instagram. In the description under the reel, she added that she would miss creating the marketing for "It Ends With Us".

Amidst the scandal involving "It Ends With Us," Justin Baldoni said he would not direct the next part of the film. This may be related to the fact that, according to The Hollywood Reporter, several production versions were created. The romantic comedy prepared by the editor of "Deadpool" at Blake Lively's behest was supposed to hit theaters.