It Ends with Us is about to hit theaters on Aug. 9. It stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni as the main leads, and while the two have been promoting the film for a couple of months, fans have one question: why have they been avoiding each other on the press tour?
It Ends With Us is New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover’s first movie adaptation, based on her hit novel of the same name. The controversial romance author struck a deal with Jane the Virgin‘s Justin Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios in July 2019, and the film has taken quite a while to hit theaters, with several of those years stuck in development hell.
The film started gaining momentum again in January 2023 when Blake Lively jumped on board in the role of the main female lead, Lily Bloom. Baldoni, who also directed the film, plays one of her love interests, Ryle Kincaid, with Christy Hall adapting the script. The cast also includes 1923‘s Brandon Sklenar, Parks and Recreations‘ Jenny Slate, and No Hard Feelings‘ Hasan Minhaj. So, what about the drama behind the scenes?
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni seemed to avoid each other while promoting It Ends With Us
So far, all the official promos for It Ends With Us showed Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively separate from one another, which is very unusual, to say the least. Not only do they play husband and wife in the film, but Baldoni is also the film’s director. His being missing from key events raises many questions.
Lively attended many events with her other co-stars, Brandon Sklenar, who plays her other love interest, Atlas, and Isabela Ferrer, who plays young Lily. She also hung out with Colleen Hoover. Even Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds did a funny interview with Sklenar to promote the upcoming film. So, what is going on?
Fans have been asking Lively about Baldoni in the comments of her Instagram posts since she started promoting the film, yet she’s never replied. “Why Justin hasn’t been involved in the promotion of the movie (not as much as the others)?” asked one fan. Another person on X asked, “blake lively and justin baldoni are avoiding each other like the plague. You would almost forget that Justin directed the movie and is her co-star. What happened on the it ends with us set?!!”
So far, no one has explained why Baldoni wasn’t part of the movie’s press junket with the rest of the cast. On top of that, Lively and the rest of the cast (plus Hoover) supposedly unfollowed him on social media and have never addressed him.
Justin Baldoni previously addressed his difficult It Ends with Us role
The fact that Justin Baldoni was missing from the press tour might be suspicious, but it might not necessarily mean there’s any drama there. The actor was recently hospitalized and unable to attend some events due to an undisclosed infection, which he posted about on his Instagram in early June. He has also addressed his role as Ryle Kincaid, noting the differences between him and the character, so Baldoni’s absence from the press events might be an attempt to not glamorize the film’s domestic violence issue. Baldoni previously expressed, “Ryle was a complex character, I had a lot of fear come up to play this person who is so different than who I am. I had never gone to the places that Ryle does in the film.” It was Hoover herself who convinced him to play Ryle, so her potentially unfollowing him is suspicious, too.
The author previously praised Baldoni’s acting skills, noting, “Honestly you need someone in the role of Ryle who it’s going to hurt when you see them not be who you wish they could be. With Justin playing that role it was honestly perfect.”
At the premiere, Baldoni had nothing but good words about both Hoover and Lively. So, is this just a ploy to promote the movie, or an effort to not have the world fall for the Bad Guy? Or was Baldoni’s absence due to medical reasons? Either way, It Ends with Us becoming the new Don’t Worry Darling was not on my 2024 bingo card, but I need answers just as much as everyone else.