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Blake Lively Taking a Social Media Break After Being Labeled a ‘Mean Girl’ Amid ‘It Ends With Us’ Backlash
Logging off! Blake Lively is taking a social media break amid the It Ends With Us backlash, a source exclusively tells Life & Style.
Fans turned on Blake, 37, for allegedly feuding with costar Justin Baldoni, branding the actress a “mean girl” and accusing her of using the film to promote her personal brands.
“Blake knows that anonymous online haters are going to continue to gossip and spread lies,” says the insider. “But she’s not going to let them bring her down.”
Especially not on her birthday. Blake celebrated her 37th at Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island mansion over the August 24 weekend with Ryan Reynolds and their daughters, James, Inez, Betty, 4, and son Olin.
“It was just what Blake needed. She really tried her best to let go of all the drama and have a good time,” the source dishes.
The Gossip Girl alum hasn’t posted on Instagram since August 8, one day before It Ends With Us hit theaters.
Her last post was a video featuring girl talk amongst costars Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer, as well as author Colleen Hoover, who wrote the novel the film was based on.
“‘The shoes! And shiny butt. Why is that the butt??’ Becoming friends with all of these women is the best thing to come out of @itendswithusmovie for me. And that’s saying A LOT because I couldn’t be more proud of this film. I’m gonna be sad when marketing is over and I don’t have excuses to sit on my couch dressed up with you ladies playing @tabletopicsinc,” Blake wrote in the caption, signing off as “xoxo Cookie Face.”
Some fans in the comments slammed the actress for not discussing the topic of domestic violence, one of the focal points in the movie, more often during her press tour.
“This is shameful. I don’t understand why everyone’s laughing and no one mentioned domestic violence even once,” one follower wrote, while another added, “‘Sitting on the couch dressed up?’ While promoting a movie about DV. So tone deaf and no self awareness.” One user told Blake, “Maybe it wasn’t your intention but misleading audience to believe it was a romcom instead of a DV movie is pretty low.”
Others blasted Blake for some of her interviews for the movie, as well as resurfaced ones from previous films where she came across as somewhat cold. One featured The Shallows star being interviewed by Norwegian entertainment journalist Kjersti Flaa for 2016’s Cafe Society. The reporter congratulated the Blake on her “little bump,” as she had just revealed her pregnancy. She snarked back to the not-pregnant reporter, “Congratulations on your little bump.”
One person commented, “So disappointed in your behavior, glad everyone has seen your true colors,” while another user asked Blake, “No apology yet for your mean girl interviews?”
The A Simple Favor star fueled rumors of behind-the-scenes tensions when she didn’t pose with her It Ends With Us costar and director Justin, 40, at the film’s New York City premiere on August 6. Blake also didn’t do any press interviews alongside the Jane the Virgin alum, who played the lead opposite her, despite doing some with costar Brandon Sklenar.
The California native gushed in the NYC red carpet about how husband Ryan, 47, rewrote a pivotal scene in the movie where Blake’s Lily meets Justin’s Ryle for the first time.
“The iconic rooftop scene, my husband actually wrote it. Nobody knows that, but you now,” the actress told E! News.
Blake added, “We help each other, He works on everything I do. I work on everything he does. So, his wins, his celebrations are mine and mine are his.” The movie’s screenwriter, Christy Hall, told People on August 8 that she was unaware of the script changes by Ryan.
Justin hinted that he didn’t want to be part of the sequel, as Colleen followed up her novel with the follow-up, It Starts With Us. “I think there are better people for that one,” he told Entertainment Tonight at the film’s NYC premiere. “I think Blake Lively’s ready to direct. That’s what I think.”
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