“It Ends With Us” hit theaters on Aug. 9, soon becoming a box office hit with over $200 million in revenue.
The movie, directed by Justin Baldoni, is an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s popular 2016 book by the same name and centers around Lily Bloom — played by Blake Lively — a young florist whose dream to open her own shop in Boston finally comes true.
There, she meets charming Ryle — played by Baldoni — and the two quickly start a whirlwind romantic relationship.
However, their seemingly perfect bubble is quickly shattered after Ryle’s violent tendencies surface, dragging the two into an abusive relationship.
When Lily’s first teenage love, Atlas — played by Brandon Sklenar — comes back into her life, Lily must grapple with her past feelings all while figuring out if staying with Ryle is in her best interest.
“It Ends With Us” is centered around one woman’s journey in an abusive relationship, making domestic violence a core theme in the film.
Then came the infamous press conferences Lively gave as part of the film’s publicity campaign. Her remarks were widely seen as insensitive to the movie’s troubling motifs.
In perhaps her most notably controversial moment, Lively cheerfully recommended women to wear floral clothing and bring their friends to the movie.
In a separate interview — when asked how she would respond to real-world victims of abusive relationships coming up to her — Lively turned the question into a joke and laughed it off.
Baldoni’s response to the film was seen by viewers as mature and serious, a stark contrast to Lively’s bubbly demeanor during interviews.
Additionally, Lively has been accused of using the film to promote her own products, launching her new hair care line Blake Brown, and marketing her alcohol line Betty Booze while the film plays in theaters. Fans were especially confused when Lively created a drink called “Ryle You Wait,” an homage to the abuser in the film.
This isn’t the first time Lively’s actions have raised viewers’ eyebrows. Recent interviews have resurfaced online highlighting her poor decorum, including a 2016 interview with Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa, in which Lively was noticeably rude to the interviewer and hostile to her questions.
When Flaa complimented the then-pregnant Lively on her baby bump, Lively, in turn, sarcastically praised Flaa’s “bump,” even though Flaa was not pregnant.
“It Ends With Us” is Lively’s return film after a 4-year hiatus from acting. Perhaps she needs to take another four years off and get some PR training, too.
