“Wait, why is Ryan Reynolds there?”: What’s Happening Between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni? ‘It Ends With Us’ Promotion Takes an Ugly Turn

While the rest of the world watches from its perch, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni get down in the dirt during the premiere of It Ends With Us. The controversy surrounding the film first began when the director was nowhere near the rest of his cast members throughout the entirety of the press and promotional tour.

The situation was muddied further by the arrival of Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively’s husband. While the Deadpool & Wolverine duo landed in full momentum in the middle of Blake Lively’s latest venture, the piqued audience became aware of new information that further explained the friction between the lead actress and her co-star and director, Baldoni.

It Ends With Us Brings a New Era of Hollywood Drama

In 2022, Florence Pugh and Olivia Wilde proved that there’s no such thing as bad press. With their intense behind-the-scenes drama and eventual falling out, the sci-fi thriller Don’t Worry Darling became a major talking point among the audiences. People swarmed down to their nearest theaters to catch the film and fill up on the controversy. Blake Lively’s new film gives away a somewhat similar vibe.

It Ends With Us, a novel by Colleen Hoover, became exponentially popular through BookTok during the pandemic. The story focuses on the generational trauma of victims of domestic abuse, the effect it can have on a family, and one woman’s attempt to break the chain of violence and reclaim her life. The novel, although entirely fictional, was partially inspired by the author’s own life and the relationship between her parents.

Although the story in itself is deeply potent with the message it wants to convey, the live-action adaptation foregoes doing the same, presenting It Ends With Us as a fun-filled rom-com on the surface. With floral red carpet appearances that added up to a “silly goofy Barbie moment,” Blake Lively’s latest project faces criticism about romanticizing domestic abuse.

What’s Happening With Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and Justin Baldoni?

While the familial support between Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively is beautiful to see, in the case of It Ends With Us, the Deadpool actor could be seen slowly taking over the film’s process, involving himself with the script, and hijacking an interview with Brendan Sklenar (although this worked out in the film’s favor due to the added publicity of having Hugh Jackman involved as well).

Meanwhile, the director and star of the film, Justin Baldoni, was avoided like the plague during the New York City premiere. Jenny Slate infamously dodged a direct question about the director, confusing the interviewer by answering in circles. As Pedestrian TV aptly surmised:

It Ends With Us is a story about domestic violence which Justin [Baldoni] has been emphasizing in all of his interviews. Meanwhile, we havenʼt seen the same energy from other cast interviews.

The surprise interview with Brendan Sklenar also evoked a similar mass sentiment along the lines of: “Wait, why is Ryan Reynolds there?”

On the red carpet, Blake Lively’s appearance in the iconic and timeless Britney Spears dress further polluted the waters by making the press tour appear like a frolic in the park for the cast members. While talking to BBC News, the actress mentioned:

This movie covers domestic violence but whatʼs important about this film is that she is not just a survivor and sheʼs not just a victim, and while those are huge things to be, theyʼre not her identity… We really feel like we delivered a story thatʼs emotional, and itʼs fun and itʼs funny, and itʼs painful, and itʼs scary, and itʼs tragic, and itʼs inspiring, and thatʼs what life is.

Elsewhere during the press tour, Justin Baldoni was asked about the possibility of a sequel to the film, since Colleen Hoover published ‘It Starts With Us’ as a follow-up to the TikTok sensation. Although Sony has not announced plans for a sequel yet, Sklenar (who plays Atlas) showed major interest in doing the film.

But for Baldoni, the enthusiasm was not the same. The director cryptically claimed in an interview with Entertainment Tonight at the film’s August 6 premiere:

I think there are better people for that one. I think Blake Lively’s ready to direct, that’s what I think.

Although that is not direct evidence of a rift between the director and the lead of the film, It Ends With Us is already suffering from a wave of negative publicity, with people being more invested in the drama while misconstruing every interview and statement from the cast as proof to back their controversial theories.

It Ends With Us is currently playing in theaters worldwide.