“It Ends With Us,” But Does It End for Blake Lively’s Career?

How Blake Lively’s press tour behavior sparked backlash, revealed troubling past incidents and started drama with director Justin Baldoni.

With Blake Lively's new film "It Ends With Us" being released this summer, fans wonder about the morals of the A-list actress. Credit: Markus Winkler on Pexels

Trigger Warning: This article discusses sensitive topics, such as domestic violence.

Is this the end of Blake Lively’s acting career? The film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel “It Ends With Us” has sparked a wave of controversy, with much of the backlash directed at its leading actress, Blake Lively. Lively’s actions during the film’s press tour have offended numerous fans and Internet users since the movie's debut on Aug. 9. 

Many claim Lively is not handling the topic of the film appropriately and is marketing her hair care line Blake Brown, rather than seeking justice for the topic of domestic violence. This has led some to rewatch previous interviews with her to find further instances of inappropriate press behavior. Alongside this drama, conflict has arisen between Lively and Justin Baldoni, the film’s director.

“Over the past few weeks, Internet users have dissected recent and old interviews, debated over how the topic of domestic violence was handled in the film and on the press tour and shared their theories about causes of the alleged rift — with the chatter only heightening when Baldoni hired a crisis PR manager,” said E! News. 

In its first week alone, “It Ends With Us” brought in $100 million worldwide, creating significant attention and sparking widespread conversation. During the drama, both director Justin Baldoni and star Lively have used their platforms to address the topic of domestic violence, offering resources and support on social media. 

However, fans have noticed a separation in how thoroughly the topic has been spoken about compared to other topics discussed during the press tour. This has sparked further criticism and intensified the movie’s impact. 

“It was an interesting movie with an important message regarding partner abuse,” said Hanna Brick ‘26. “I don’t think Blake Lively handled the press well at all and did not understand the gravity of the issue she was discussing.” 

When Lively made the movie seem like an enjoyable romantic comedy to watch with friends, many thought it was inappropriate. A TikTok clip uploaded by the movie’s main account noted, 

“Grab your friends, wear your florals and head out to see it.”

“She’s completely missing the point of the movie. It’s not about fashion or flowers, it’s about breaking a cycle of DV [domestic violence], and she’s being extremely inappropriate,” said Jazi Khraishi ‘26.

“Before this film, I did not know about Baldoni, but seeing him spread the true message about this film makes me support him. He is giving the audience real DV sources they can go to for help, I really respect it.”

Apart from the drama with Baldoni, this film’s press tour has been a disaster. Numerous clips of Lively pushing her hair care line instead of raising awareness about domestic violence have been spreading, especially on TikTok. This is a wasted opportunity to help women who are going through similar trauma and heartache. 

Lively kept referencing this film and its theme as “romantic” during the tour. Many individuals who saw the film were not aware of the domestic violence element. Not everyone read the “It Ends With Us” books, despite its popularity. 
In the wake of this controversy, Lively has faced significant criticism across social media. A particularly viral TikTok video features a woman mocking Lively’s behavior in a resurfaced interview clip, accumulating over 2.5 million likes, 54,000 shares and a flood of negative comments. With such intense backlash, the question remains: will this controversy mark the end of Lively’s career, or will she rise above the hate and continue her acting career?