It Ends With Us Fans Think Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni Are Feuding

Oh, the press tour: giver of method fashion moments, oft-repeated sound bites, and, every so often, rumored drama among the cast. Like Don’t Worry Darling before it, It Ends With Us — the highly anticipated adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel — had fans dissecting every moment of promo leading up to its Aug. 9 premiere, and the conversation doesn’t seem to be waning anytime soon.

Specifically, fans think Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are feuding. But why do? Here are the It Ends With Us rumors, explained.

It Started With Social Media

Social media sleuthing isn’t just for reality TV spoilers. On Aug. 5, several fans noticed that neither Lively nor Hoover was following Baldoni, who co-starred in and directed the film, even though he followed them. (As of writing, this remains the case.) Baldoni also follows co-stars such as Jenny Slate and Brandon Sklenar, neither of whom follows him back.

Where’s The Joint Promo?

Fans also wondered why Lively and Baldoni weren’t promoting the film together in interviews. One user on X (formerly Twitter) said they needed to know why, pointing out that Baldoni is both the director and a main character in the film.

It’s not that Baldoni has skipped press. He’s done his share of interviews, too, but he hasn’t appeared in group promo such as the Access Hollywood interview with Lively, Hoover, and Sklenar.

In the comments section of @jennaredfield’s viral TikTok about the surprising lack of interaction, one user suggested that Baldoni’s absence could be intentional. “As someone who’s read the book… the idea of ignoring him as promo makes sense,” they wrote. Indeed, the book deals with quite heavy themes, as Baldoni’s character, Ryle, abuses his partner, Lily (played by Lively).

A Confusing Red Carpet

At the film’s Aug. 6 premiere in New York, Baldoni was not photographed with Lively, Hoover, or his co-stars.

Fans were also surprised by an interview with Slate, who plays Baldoni’s on-screen sister, at the red carpet. When asked by Deadline what it was like to work with Baldoni as a director and scene partner, Slate opted to discuss the question more generally. “I mean, what an intense job,” she said. “Like, to have to do so many things. I just found myself being like, Wow, I really just want to have one job at once.”

“She did not answer that question at all,” one fan replied on X, suggesting that there’s tension among the cast.

Sources Say...

Several viral TikToks theorized that there were creative differences between Baldoni and Lively, who also serves as executive producer. She recently shared that her husband, Ryan Reynolds, wrote a scene for the film. Screenwriter Christy Hall told People that she wasn’t aware Reynolds had written dialogue for the movie. “When I saw a cut I was like, ‘Oh, that’s cute. That must have been a cute improvised thing.’ So if I’m being told that Ryan wrote that, then great, how wonderful,” Hall said.

The Hollywood Reporter weighed in and cited sources claiming that while Lively did reportedly commission a cut of the movie from an editor who worked on Deadpool & Wolverine, “It’s unclear if any of this cut was ultimately used in the final project.”

The outlet reported that “there was a fracture among the filmmakers in the postproduction process,” regarding different edited versions of the movie.

However, it also cited a source who “played down any friction,” among the It Ends With Us team, “noting that it is not uncommon for a film to have several cuts emerge during post, adding that the team was in agreement on the final cut.”

What does this mean for the sequel? When asked by Entertainment Tonight if he’d also direct an adaptation of the book’s follow-up, It Starts With Us, Baldoni said, “There are better people for that one,” adding that Lively was “ready to direct.”

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, call 911 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or visit thehotline.org.