Getty Images (2)
Blake Lively ‘Took Over Creative Control’ From Justin Baldoni During ‘It Ends With Us’ Filming
What’s going on between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni? Rumors of a rift began swirling when fans noticed that the It Ends With Us costars were promoting the film separately. Blake, 37, along with several other cast members, also doesn’t follow Justin, 40, on Instagram.
“There’s talk that Blake took over creative control of the movie very early on, eclipsing Justin’s role as director,” a source exclusively tells Life & Style about the speculated feud. “Word is, her husband, Ryan [Reynolds, 47], rewrote a key scene in the movie, too.”
Justin hinted at having to navigate “complex personalities” while filming the Colleen Hoover adaptation, and even suggested that Blake direct the sequel, It Starts With Us. “Many took that as a jab,” says the source. “Clearly, there were strong voices on that set telling Justin what to do.”
The film – which debuted in theaters on August 9 — has been a financial success, earning a jaw-dropping $50 million domestically and $80 million worldwide against a $25 million budget. News of such an epic success for the project, its movie studio, Sony, and the film’s stars and producers, Blake and Justin, should have dominated headlines. But instead of basking in great press, the movie’s main players and their camps have been doing damage control.
Whispers of a feud between the costars have been growing for weeks. First the two raised eyebrows by failing to promote the movie, about an abusive relationship, together, attending different screenings and events.. The distracting scandal eventually went mainstream when the pair didn’t pose together for a single shot at the August 6 premiere, where costars like comedian Jenny Slate as well as the book’s author curiously danced around questions about Justin in red carpet interviews.
Since then, “it’s become a real war of words,” an additional source tells Life & Style. “Fingers are being pointed from both camps with all kinds of nasty accusations being thrown around.”
From the start, Blake, an exec producer of the flick, seemed to be undercutting Justin’s role as a director, telling E! News that she called Ryan to rewrite dialogue for “the iconic rooftop scene.” (That was news to the film’s screenwriter, Christy Hall, who said she’d believed it had been improvised.) After footage surfaced of her and Justin having a heated conversation on set, a report appeared that he had “fat-shamed” her, who’d recently given birth to her fourth child, humiliating her by asking about her weight before a scene in which he had to lift her. The narrative, that he was controlling and possibly dangerous, was furthered by her August 10 comments to Digital Spy that “it’s critical to have an intimacy coordinator … for everyone’s safety.”
Things looked so bad for Justin that he hired a crisis PR manager — the same one who represented Johnny Depp during the actor’s defamation trial with ex-wife Amber Heard. Positive headlines soon emerged, including one about how Justin’s production company, Wayfarer Studios, was partnering with a domestic violence support organization to provide resources and information to abuse survivors.
Stories defending the dad of two also made the rounds, with one insisting he was “actually viewed quite favorably by a lot of the crew, as he was generally a nice guy to work with” and that despite the appearance that the main cast has sided with Blake, others on set “feel like Justin got screwed.”
Indeed, a source tells Life & Style the Jane the Virgin star was not, in fact, body-shaming his leading lady, pointing out that Justin and Blake had the same on-set trainer, so it would be surprising that Blake would have considered talk about a physical scene inappropriate considering the actor-director has back problems and had recently undergone treatment for a disc injury before being hospitalized in June for a related infection.
Publicly, however, Justin has praised the Gossip Girl alum, calling her a“powerhouse.” He told the Today show, “She is a dynamic creative. She had her hands in every part of this production, and everything she touched she made better.” He’s also acknowledged the movie wasn’t smooth sailing, telling ELLE U.K., “There’s always friction that happens when you make a movie like this. Then at the end of the day, it’s that friction, I believe, that creates the beautiful art. Everything in life needs friction to grow.”
Taking a Hit
Yet the tide began turning against Blake. She faced intense backlash on social media, where users branded her a “mean girl,” “fake” and “a villain” as they dissected the feud drama. Amid praise for Justin for discussing the movie’s serious themes, like intimate partner violence, in his interviews, Blake — who showed up on the red carpet in a series of flirty floral frocks — was accused of using the movie’s media events to boost her own brands. “Grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see it,” the actress said in a promo for the movie on Instagram. One commenter on X summed up the disconnect, writing, “Blake Lively spending the entire press run for her new film, which is about domestic violence and abuse, acting like it’s a fun gals night out … and promoting her businesses at the same time is INSANE behavior.”
Past troubling conduct also resurfaced. On August 11, reporter Kjersti Flaa posted a clip on YouTube titled, “The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job.” In the sit-down for the 2016 film Café Society, Blake mocked the L.A.-based Norwegian journalist for congratulating her on her “little bump” — Blake had recently announced her second pregnancy — then chided the reporter for inquiring about the movie’s beautiful period costumes. Blake wondered if Kjersti would “ask the men about the clothes.” (Taken aback, the reporter
insisted that she would.)
The pushback put the actress on the defensive. Reframing her “girls’ night” attitude, she said of her character, “She’s not just a survivor, and she’s not just a victim, and while those are huge things to be, they are not her identity,” insisting women contain multitudes aren’t defined by their abuse.
Creative Differences
What it may all boil down to is control. A source says Blake and Ryan, hoping to seal their picture-perfect image as a Hollywood power couple, stealthily took over the film. In addition to rewriting scenes, Blake reportedly hired her own editor — the same one who crafted Ryan’s summer blockbuster, Deadpool & Wolverine — to make an alternate cut of It Ends With Us. “She had a vision for how the story should be told and wanted to put out the best movie possible,” explains the insider, noting there’s also speculation “that had the movie bombed, Blake would have downplayed her creative contributions.”
The next fight may be over the sequel. Justin’s production company owns the film rights to the next book in the series, It Starts With Us. “But making a sequel is the last thing on his mind right now,” says the insider. “Maybe he’ll sit on the project for years and refuse to sell and make Blake suffer. Certainly, she and Ryan would scoop up the rights in a minute if they were available.”
