Are It Ends with Us stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni beefing? Here’s all the evidence we could find

By Abby Amoakuh

Published Aug 9, 2024 at 01:10 PM

Reading time: 2 minutes

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Image courtesy IMDb

So, often the press tour of a heavily-hyped movie is just as entertaining as the upcoming feature itself. Remember the Don’t Worry Darling drama? Whether Shia Labeouf got the boot or quit the movie was the question of the moment in 2022. And how the film’s production drama culminated in Harry Styles allegedly spitting in Chris Pine’s lap is a question I ask myself till this very day. But, apparently these guys have nothing on the It Ends with Us cast, aka the Colleen Hoover book turned Hollywood movie that’s got everyone in a tizzy. Is anyone in the mood for some subtle shade? Because this movie rollout got tons of it.

According to some very chronically online sleuths, something is definitely off with that crew and there are four key pieces of evidence to support this take. So, let’s have a look at them, shall we?

First of all, we’ve got male lead and director Justin Baldoni, who surprisingly was only seen being photographed alone on the carpet or with his wife. While his castmates were pictured side by side, grinning from ear to ear, the Jane the Virgin star very interestingly decided to fly solo for most of the press tour, without any plausible explanation other than that he seemed to prefer it that way. Meaningless? I think not.

Next up, is the fact that Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds AND the original book’s author, Colleen Hoover, have all unfollowed Baldoni on Instagram. In case you’re not a digital native, unfollowing someone on Instagram is the modern equivalent of dramatically ripping up their photo and setting the pieces on fire in your three-foot–tall fireplace. It’s serious business, my friends.

Interestingly though, Baldoni is still following them, leaving us to wonder if he’s playing it cool to save this train wreck of a press tour.

Moving on, we have a rather awkward interaction between Lively and Baldoni during an interview, one of the rare instances of the two doing press together. When asked about their on-set dynamic, Baldoni cheerfully described their working relationship as “professional,” to which Lively added with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, “Yes, very… professional.” Even without the visuals, this response seems icier than Elsa’s castle in Frozen.

Lastly, there were actor Jenny Slate’s comments about working with Justin Baldoni. When she was asked about working with Baldoni as both a scene partner and director, the Zootopia star inelegantly dodged the question.

“I mean, what an intense job, like to have to do so many things! I just found myself being like, ‘Wow, I really just wanna have one job at once’. And in fact, I’ve often felt that way. Like, I really like writing… But yeah, I was looking around like, ‘I’m good with just acting’.” To be honest, that wasn’t even cohesive. Something is definitely rotten in the state of Denmark…

There are multiple theories to answer this question, but most of them are interestingly in defence of the male lead, who has continued to praise Lively amid the feud rumours.

Many fans are suspecting that this might be in connection to Reynolds’ constant presence during the press tour and involvement in scripting this drama. Blake recently revealed that her hubby wrote a pivotal scene in the movie, suggesting to many sleuths that Baldoni and Lively were ringing for control over this book adaptation.

Notably, several of their friends were also present at the New York premiere, such as Hugh Jackman, who currently stars with Reynolds in Deadpool & Wolverine. Thus, netizens started shaking their heads with the assumption that the action-leading man was using his wife’s movie as a vehicle for self-promotion.

Did Baldoni have a word with the couple because Reynolds’ star was starting to outshine his project? This explanation seems extremely plausible to some fans considering that Jackman and Lively recently did a high profile Vogue shoot together with no mention of her new movie.

We will probably never have the answers to what went on behind the scenes. But let’s just say, if this were a reality show, we’d already be on the third dramatic reunion special, complete with two tearful walk-offs and a platter of untouched sandwiches.