The production of the 2024 American film It Ends with Us, starring American actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, was the subject of controversy due to highly publicized disputes and litigation between Lively and Baldoni concerning allegations of a hostile work environment and smear campaigns. The film, based on the 2016 novel of the same name by the American author Colleen Hoover, was directed by Baldoni and produced by Baldoni and Lively, among others. It was released in August 2024 to commercial success.
During the film's press tour, some fans criticized Lively's lighthearted tone in interviews when discussing the story's themes of domestic violence and emotional abuse. Media outlets and tabloids reported an apparent conflict within the cast, with observers noting Baldoni's reduced presence in promotional activities. Reports also included allegations of improper behavior by Baldoni on set, while Lively was accused of creatively undermining Baldoni.
In December 2024, Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, alleging that Baldoni created a hostile workplace through inappropriate comments. This was followed by an article in The New York Times that accused Baldoni of hiring a public relations (PR) team to damage Lively's public image in response to her complaints. Lively subsequently filed a federal lawsuit against Baldoni and his associates, alleging violations of U.S. federal and California state law including retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns. She later added PR consultant Jed Wallace.
Baldoni denied the allegations and alleged that disputes between the parties stemmed from creative disagreements rather than misconduct. In December 2024, he filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, and in January 2025, filed a $400 million countersuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist Leslie Sloane, alleging extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy. Baldoni claimed that Lively used false allegations of sexual harassment and threats to withdraw from the production to gain creative control over the film. They alleged that any negative press she received was an organic result of her own behavior during the promotional tour. In February 2025, Lively sought a gag order against Baldoni's attorney, alleging an ongoing smear campaign. The request was denied by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
In May 2025, after Lively included singer-songwriter Taylor Swift on a list of potential witnesses, Baldoni sought to subpoena Swift, alleging that Lively and Reynolds had used her influence to coerce him into accepting Lively's rewrite of a scene in the film. He alleged that Lively blackmailed Swift with leaking private text messages to garner her public support in the controversy. Swift denied involvement in the production, and the subpoena was later withdrawn following criticism from the court. In June 2025, the court dismissed Baldoni's claims against Lively, Reynolds, Sloane and The New York Times, but granted him access to Lively's text conversations with Swift. Lively also sought subpoenas, including requests involving content creators, journalists, media proprietor Scooter Braun and entertainment company Hybe America, alleging association with Baldoni's PR. Her claims against Baldoni's PR consultant Jed Wallace were dismissed in November 2025.
In January 2026, a number of exhibits were unsealed ahead of a summary judgment hearing. It included Lively–Swift text messages, communications between Reynolds, his WME agents, with Sony, and multiple deposition excerpts. The testimonies included accounts from co‑star Jenny Slate and other cast and crew, alongside Baldoni's publicists.
In April 2026, the court dismissed 10 of Lively's 13 claims, including sexual harassment, on jurisdictional grounds, effectively removing Baldoni and the other individual defendants from the lawsuit. Lively's remaining claims of retaliation and breach of contract against Wayfarer Studios, as well as aiding and abetting retaliation against associated PR defendants, were resolved out of court in May 2026 without any monetary settlement. Lively continued seeking punitive and treble damages regarding Baldoni's dismissed countersuit. The court awarded Lively attorneys' fees incurred from defense against the defamation claim but denied the sought damages. In June 2026, the terms of the settlement were made public, revealing that all parties waived their rights to any future litigation, bringing the legal dispute between Lively and Baldoni to an end.
Background It Ends with Us is a 2016 romance novel written by the American author Colleen Hoover. The book's main character is florist Lily Bloom who enters into a relationship with neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid that becomes abusive over time. A chance encounter with her childhood friend and first love, Atlas Corrigan, inspires Lily to see another way of life. The story, inspired in part by Hoover's parents' relationship, explores themes of domestic violence and emotional trauma.
It Ends with Us has been translated into more than 20 languages other than English and had sold over a million copies worldwide by 2019. It was voted the best romance novel of 2016 by Goodreads. In 2021, the novel experienced a surge in popularity due to attention on BookTok. In 2022, It Ends with Us topped The New York Times Best Seller list and the Publishers Weekly annual list. It subsequently became the best-selling novel of 2023, and Hoover's most popular work.
In July 2019, the American actor and director Justin Baldoni announced on Instagram that he had acquired the film rights to adapt the novel through his company, Wayfarer Studios. In January 2023, it was announced that American actress Blake Lively was cast in the role of Lily Bloom. Baldoni was cast as Ryle Kincaid at Hoover's suggestion. Actors Brandon Sklenar, Jenny Slate, and Hasan Minhaj later joined the cast. Principal photography began in Hoboken, New Jersey, in May 2023. Production was temporarily halted due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA strikes, before resuming in January 2024 in Jersey City.
Early photographs from set sparked criticism from fans with some questioning the film's direction. Lively's outfits particularly were described as "chaotic" and "disheveled, almost-frumpy". Some also expressed concern that Lively was too old to play Lily, who is in her early 20s in the book. Hoover later blamed her own ignorance and explained that the characters in the book are too young for their life experiences, and that the film is a more realistic portrayal. The film's trailer was released on May 16, 2024, featuring the song "My Tears Ricochet" by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, a close friend of Lively's. The film was released on August 9, 2024, achieving commercial success despite mixed reviews, marking both Baldoni and Lively's highest-grossing project yet.
Lively was one of the producers of the film. In an interview with People in April 2024, Baldoni said there "wasn't a part of this production that [Lively] didn't touch and have influence on [...] Everything that she put her hands on and her mind to, she made better." Lively later confirmed this in an interview with Variety, saying "The work I did as a producer was far more all-consuming than anything I did playing Lily. I just did it all. There's nothing I didn't touch on this film."
Reports of conflict Press tour During the film's 2024 promotional campaign, media outlets reported an apparent "feud" between Baldoni and other members of the cast. Baldoni conducted interviews separately and was largely absent from group promotional appearances. Baldoni spoke to Access Hollywood, Today, Entertainment Tonight and Good Morning America, while Lively spoke to Vogue, Capital FM and CBS Mornings. Observers noted that he did not appear alongside Lively in interviews, and other cast members often avoided addressing questions about him. Multiple viewers described Lively's answer to a question on a Yahoo! Entertainment interview about building trust with Baldoni as "wild" as she did not mention him at all.
Social media discourse surrounding Lively became increasingly negative during this period. She faced criticism for her tone during interviews, with some viewers accusing her of treating the film's themes of domestic violence and emotional abuse too lightly. Critics pointed to comments encouraging audiences to attend screenings in a celebratory manner urging them to "grab your friends and wear your florals" to the theater. She was also criticized for promoting her personal brands during the press tour, particularly for tying her alcohol brand to the promotion of a film centered on domestic violence, an issue that is often linked to alcoholism. Additionally, she directed her husband Reynolds in a lighthearted promotional video for It Ends with Us that cross-promoted his film Deadpool & Wolverine. Other criticisms arose from Lively's promotion of her hair care line during the press tour, which some viewed as inappropriate given the film's subject matter. Lively specifically received backlash for what many observers described as a "tone deaf" response to a journalist's question about how survivors of domestic violence might best approach her to discuss the film's themes. In contrast, some observers viewed Baldoni's promotional approach as placing greater emphasis on raising awareness of domestic violence and highlighting survivor experiences.
Premiere Speculation about tensions intensified at the film's New York premiere on August 6, 2024. Lively appeared on the red carpet with co-stars, while Baldoni attended separately with his friends and family and did not pose with the main cast. At the premiere, Baldoni told Entertainment Tonight that he likely would not direct the film's potential sequel based on Hoover's follow-up novel, It Starts with Us (2022), and added "I think Blake Lively's ready to direct, that's what I think." When Lively arrived on the red carpet, Baldoni's group was ushered into the basement of the building and placed in a smaller theater to watch the film instead of the main theater with cast. He also did not introduce the film in the main theater prior to the screening, a role typically performed by the director. Lively and Hoover introduced the film instead. According to Baldoni's complaint, Lively and Reynolds had demanded Baldoni not attend the premiere at all.
On the red carpet, Lively disclosed to E! News that her husband, Canadian-American actor Ryan Reynolds, wrote a scene that is a fan-favorite from the book despite not being credited as a writer on the film, sparking fan speculation about whether there were disputes with Baldoni over creative control. Further speculation arose when fans observed that several cast members and Hoover were not following or had unfollowed Baldoni on Instagram. Canadian journalist Liz Plank, a friend of Baldoni and also his co-host of the podcast Man Enough, attended the premiere and posted about it to her Instagram but did not pose with Baldoni or mention him in any of her posts.
On August 8, 2024, The Hollywood Reporter reported that during the film's post-production process, Lively commissioned her own edit of the film from the American film editor Shane Reid, who had edited the Marvel Studios film Deadpool & Wolverine starring and produced by Lively's husband Reynolds, which was slated for release around the same time as It Ends with Us. Reynolds and Lively used the press tour and premiere as an opportunity to cross-promote their projects. Australian-British actor Hugh Jackman, Reynolds's co-star in Deadpool & Wolverine, also attended the It Ends with Us premiere, posing with Reynolds and Lively.
Social media traction