What you need to know

Ever since Justin Baldoni announced in 2019 that he would adapt the best-selling book “It Ends With Us” into a movie, the frenzy began.

In recent years, few books have become as big a cultural phenomenon as Colin Hoover’s novel, which sold 20 million copies and became an Internet sensation on TikTok with more than one billion tags on the app.

When Blake Lively, who rose to fame in the 2000s playing Serena van der Woodsen in Gossip Girl, was cast as the title character, fans were even more excited, describing her as the perfect choice to play Lily Bloom, a young woman who has grown up witnessed domestic violence and found himself in the same situation years later.

Lily, a Boston florist, navigates a complex love triangle between her charming but hurtful boyfriend Riley Kincaid, played by Jane the Virgin’s Justin Baldoni, and her sympathetic first love, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar).

The film, which was released in early August, was a box office success, grossing over $350m (£280m) worldwide.

But despite the financial success, things were not going so smoothly behind the scenes. Rumors of a feud between Baldoni and Lively began circulating even before the film’s release.

Last week, Lively filed a lawsuit against her co-star, accusing him of sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign against hersomething Baldoni vehemently denies. Here’s the story so far:

For a domestic violence film, the press tour for We’re Running Out probably wasn’t what you’d expect. There were pink carpets, lots of flowers and ads for Lively’s new hair care brand and her husband’s gin company.

Instead of propaganda on the red carpet, Lively chose fashion and flowers.

At the premiere in London, the press were told to keep the questions “fun and light”, and one of the organizers of the event told me to “stay away from questions about domestic violence”.

One of her statements at the New York premiere – “you are much more than just a survivor or just a victim” – caused a stormy reaction on social networks.

Ashley Page, a domestic violence survivor criticized Ms. Lively’s language and told the BBC that her own trauma “shaped who I am”.

Lively was also criticized for her comments in another clumsy promotional video, where she said: “Grab your friends, wear flowers and go see it.”

Ms Page accused Lively of promoting the film as if it were a “Barbie sequel”.

Along with the press tour being described as “tone deaf,” people began asking questions about why Lively and Baldoni weren’t photographed together on the red carpet at the film’s New York premiere on August 6.

The pair also did not give joint interviews during the press tour, and at the London premiere, which Baldoni did not attend, Lively’s team warned me “not to ask questions about Justin.”

Internet sleuths also noticed that cast members, including Lively and author Hoover, were unfollowing Baldoni on social media.

Neither Lively nor Baldoni addressed the feud rumors during the press tour, with the only reference to each other being that Baldoni told Today that his co-star was a “dynamic creative.”

“She put her hands into every part of this production and everything she touched made (it) better,” he said of the 37-year-old.

Although a box office success, the film received mixed reviews from critics, with some saying it romanticized domestic violence.

Was two-star review by Tim Robbie of The Telegraphwho called it a “gritty drama” that “repackages domestic violence into a slick romance.”

He suggested that the film “fusing violence and glitzy big-city courtship to highly questionable effects.”

The film also sparked a debate on TikTok, with some saying that it wasn’t clear from the trailer that the story was about an abusive relationship, but rather that it seemed to be about a love story.

Based on this misconception, some people said they found the film traumatic because they didn’t know it contained scenes of domestic violence.

During the film’s press tour, Baldoni hired crisis manager Melissa Nathan, whose previous clients included Johnny Depp and Drake.

Shortly after the press tour, Lively faced a barrage of criticism on social media related to her comments on the tour, as well as from old interviews.

One interview that resurfaced was Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa, who posted a YouTube video of her interview with Lively in 2016. It was called The Blake Lively Interview That Made Me Quit My Job.

Actor Brandon Sklenar, who plays Atlas in the film, came to Lively’s defense, writing on Instagram that people have been ‘disparaging’ the women involved in the film online.

He said it was “disheartening to see the amount of negativity projected” and that someone close to him who had a relationship similar to Lily’s called the film “saving her life”.

Four months after the film’s release Lively filed a lawsuit against Mr. Baldoni, in which she accused him of sexual harassment.

The complaint also names Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni’s production company, which made “It Ends With Us,” as a defendant.

The lawsuit accuses Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer CEO Jamie Heath of “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior.” Some other cast and crew also spoke out about their behavior, the statement said.

It also claims that Ms. Lively, Mr. Baldoni and others involved in the film’s development attended a meeting in January to address a “hostile work environment” on the set. Her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, attended the meeting with her, according to the complaint.

At the meeting, those present agreed to a list of demands, including that Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath “no longer describe their own genitalia,” that an intimacy coordinator be on set at all times when Ms. Lively was filming with Mr. Baldoni, and not “friends” of the producers. and directors on set during scenes where Ms. Lively was naked.

The list of demands also implied that Mr Baldoni had asked Ms Lively’s trainer how much she weighed and alleged that Mr Baldoni and Mr Heath had told Ms Lively about their “affiliation for pornography”.

In the statement, Ms Lively also claims that Mr Baldoni and his team attacked her public image after the meeting.

She accuses him of preparing a plan to “destroy” her reputation in the press and online, including hiring a crisis manager who led a “sophisticated, coordinated and well-financed plan of retaliation” against her and used a “digital army” to publish content on social media networks that seemed real.

“To guard against the risk of Ms. Lively ever revealing the truth about Mr. Baldoni, the Baldon-Wayfarer team created, planted, expanded, and amplified content designed to discredit Mr. Baldoni,” Ms. Lively’s team wrote in statement.

In a statement, Ms Lively says it has caused “significant harm” that has affected “every aspect” of her life.

Mr Baldoni’s legal team told the BBC the allegations were “categorically false” and said they had hired a crisis manager because Ms Lively had threatened to disrupt the film if her demands were not met.

Responding to the legal complaint, Mr. Baldoni’s attorney, Brian Friedman, said Saturday: “It is disgraceful that Ms. Lively and her representatives are making such serious and patently false allegations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and her representatives. “.

Mr. Friedman accused Ms. Lively of making numerous demands and threats, including “threats not to show up on set, threats not to promote the movie,” which would eventually lead to its termination during the release if her demands were not met. “. .

Hollywood stars including America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel have publicly supported Lively after she filed her complaint.

Ferrera, Tamblyn and Bledel, who co-starred with Lively in the 2005 film Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, issued a joint statement on Instagram on Sunday saying they were “in solidarity with her.”

“During the filming of ‘It Ends With Us,’ we saw her muster the courage to ask for a safe workplace for herself and her colleagues on set, and we are horrified to read evidence of a deliberate and vindictive attempt to discredit her voice,” they wrote.

Colleen Hoover, author of It Ends With Us, also expressed her support, describing Ms Lively as “honest, kind, supportive and patient”.

Additional reporting by Grace Dean.