The cast of It Ends With Us brought the drama on screen — and it seems just as much drama was taking place off camera.
The movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover‘s novel hit theaters in August 2024. Blake Lively was cast as leading lady Lily Bloom, who becomes the victim of domestic violence in her relationship with Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni). As she considers leaving Ryle, a love interest from her childhood returns.
Despite playing the two leading roles, Lively and Baldoni didn’t promote the movie together, quickly causing speculation of tension on set. In December 2024, Lively sued Baldoni for sexual harassment and “severe emotional distress.”
According to the lawsuit, a meeting was held in January 2024 to address some of Lively’s concerns about the film’s production. She requested there be “no more showing nude videos or images of women to Blake, no more mention of Baldoni’s alleged previous ‘pornography addiction,’ no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mentions of cast and crew’s genitalia, no more inquiries about Blake’s weight, and no further mention of Blake’s dead father.”
Everything Justin Baldoni Has Said About Working With Blake Lively
Lively further demanded “no more adding of sex scenes, oral sex or on camera climaxing by BL outside the scope of the script BL approved when signing onto the project.” Lively accused Baldoni of launching a “social manipulation” campaign against her in order to “destroy” her reputation. (Leading up to the film’s release, Lively was criticized online for seemingly ignoring the topic of domestic violence in her promotion. She later shared resources about intimate partner violence via social media.)
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, called Lively’s accusations “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious” in a statement to Us Weekly, claiming Lively filed her lawsuit in order to “fix her negative reputation.”
Lively, for her part, denied in a statement to The New York Times that she spread negative information about Baldoni. “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted,” she said.
Keep reading for quotes from Lively and Baldoni’s costars about It Ends With Us:
Brandon Sklenar
Sklenar, who played childhood love interest Atlas, issued a lengthy statement regarding the alleged drama in August 2024. “Colleen [Hoover] and the women of this cast stand for hope, perseverance, and for women choosing a better life for themselves. Vilifying the women who put so much of their heart and soul into making this film because they believe so strongly in its message seems counterproductive and detracts from what this film is about,” he wrote via Instagram, seemingly coming to Lively’s defense amid backlash to her promotion of the movie. “It is, in fact, the opposite of the point.”
Sklenar noted that it felt “disheartening” to see the “negativity” online ahead of the film’s release. The actor further insisted that “there isn’t a single person involved in the making of this film” that wasn’t “aware of the responsibility we had in making this.”
One month later, Sklenar told Access Hollywood that he spoke out because It Ends With Us is “an important film for so many women and for so many survivors of domestic abuse” with the intention of “making people feel heard and strong and loved.” He added, “To project anything but that just seems counterintuitive.”
Jenny Slate
Slate opened up about the bond she formed with Lively while working together on It Ends With Us, in which she portrayed Allysa, Lily’s best friend and Ryle’s sister.
“I deeply fell in love with her,” Slate told Entertainment Tonight of her costar. “Obviously, I have admired Blake for so long. … [She’s a] deeply trustworthy person who is also willing to share. We had long talks. I was never expecting to have the off-set experience that I had.”
The actress continued, “I was really eager to work with Blake, but to really make a friend and someone who is so capable in so many ways — like, just like a genuine winner … I’m just so grateful for this sweet person.”
Hasan Minhaj
Minhaj played Ryle’s brother-in-law in It Ends With Us, and he remained tight-lipped about the rumors during a September 2024 interview with Esquire.
“I can’t speak to other people’s experience, but everybody was very professional and cool to me,” he said. “It was lovely and everybody was lovely, and it is just as disillusioning for me, because I’m like, ‘What happened? Wait, what’s going on?’”
Minhaj called the movie’s success “surreal,” adding, “I don’t think anyone would’ve predicted it. I remember when Justin reached out to me and asked me to be part of the movie; he was so impassioned.”