Released on August 9th, 2024, the film It Ends with Us quickly took over social media by storm: not because of the quality of the film or the meaningful message it intended to spread but because of the public feud between the two lead actors, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Lively, best known for her iconic role in Gossip Girl as Serena Van Der Woodsen, alongside numerous others, is considered “Hollywood Royalty” alongside her husband, Ryan Reynolds. Blond and thin with outgoing personalities, they’re precisely who mainstream media and society wish to fixate on. Baldoni, on the other hand, was brought to fame with his role in Jane the Virgin, a supposed “underdog” in the industry. While Baldoni held the rights to the movie and took on the official job of director, rumors of conflict emerged revolving around Lively’s attempts to control the scripts and overrule Baldoni due to her higher status and reputation in the film industry. After Lively’s reputation took a nose-dive, Lively took action. In short, Lively sued Baldoni in December 2024 for sexual harassment and conspiring on a smear campaign against her. Baldoni’s response was to counter-sue both Lively and her husband, Reynolds, for 400 million in regard to damages for civil extortion and defamation. He also sued the New York Times in a 250 million dollar libel lawsuit for an article which detailed Lively’s allegations against him. Since then, both sides have released considerable evidence in the form of texts and videos against the other, causing the dispute to be debated endlessly online.
The movie itself was highly anticipated since it was the adaptation of a best-selling book by Colleen Hoover. The novel went viral on BookTok, a community on TikTok dedicated to sharing and reviewing books, resulting in over 10 million copies sold worldwide. Lively plays Lily Bloom, the young woman around whom the story revolves. Bloom grew up witnessing domestic abuse and ended up facing the same issue with her husband, Ryle, who is portrayed by Baldoni. Readers rave about how accurately domestic abuse is portrayed, accounting for the complexities that come with being hurt by someone you once loved. The message of breaking the generational cycle of abuse and encouraging domestic abuse victims to take action was one the public resonated with and emphasized. This resulted in social media closely watching the movie, from the initial photos of the filming to the marketing campaigns, to ensure the movie does the book justice.
The serious message behind the movie is what began the downfall of Lively in the eyes of the media. In the press tours, Lively took on a fun and lighthearted promotion strategy, outrightly ignoring the topic of domestic abuse. She was criticized immensely when she said “Grab your friends, wear your florals and head out to see it!” in a promotional tour video, referring to how her character is a florist in the film. People characterized her as insensitive and tone-deaf, taking to social media platforms like TikTok and Twitter to publicize their outrage at Lively’s careless dismissal of a sensitive issue. It didn’t help that she also tried to promote her new haircare brand, Blake Brown, and her drink brand, Betty Buzz, alongside the move. She went as far as to create a pop-up store in New York named Betty Blooms, playing into her florist character to generate publicity for her brands.
Again, criticism arose when she discussed how her husband, Reynolds, played a part in the writing of the script without notifying anyone, not even the lead screenwriter, Christy Hall. Social media’s general sentiment was that the power couple Lively and Reynolds were taking over Baldoni’s role as director and trying to control the direction of the film without any consideration of others. One person goes as far as describing the couple as “annoying control freaks who steamroll all the little people in their quest for entertainment supremacy.” Here, Baldoni looks like the victim, an aspiring director concerned about domestic violence who got his movie hijacked by a powerful white Hollywood couple.
But all the negative attention Lively received, she claims, is part of the smear campaign Baldoni organized against her with the help of public relations expert Melissa Nathans. Just days after the premiere of It Ends With Us, Baldoni hired Nathans, a crisis management and PR professional who has represented clients such as Johnny Depp and Drake. Namely, she managed Depp during his defamation trial with Amber Heard, who accused Depp of domestic abuse. The dynamics of this feud were further exposed through Instagram, where internet sleuths found that Lively and Baldoni did not follow each other, and the majority of the It Ends with Us cast followed Lively but not Baldoni, including Colleen Hoover. Rumors online debated whether this was due to complaints about Baldoni’s behavior on set, such as fat-shaming or kissing for too long during scenes, or the supposed takeover of Lively and Reynolds.
The legal side of things began in December, four months after the release of the film. Lively filed an eighty-page complaint with the California Legal Office, accusing Baldoni and the production company Wayfarer of repeated sexual harassment and a planned attack on her personal image. One crucial piece of information the filing revealed was that Lively, Baldoni, Reynolds, and numerous other people involved in the production of the film attended a meeting in January 2024 while filming was still taking place to address the “hostile work environment.” Lively listed 30 requirements for her to continue working on the film, with allusions to inappropriate behavior on Baldoni’s behalf. This included demands like “No more private, multi-hour meetings in BL’s trailer, with Mr[sic] Baldoni crying, with no outside BL appointed representative to monitor” and “No more improvising of kissing. All intimate touches must be choreographed in advance with Blake Lively and an intimacy coordinator. No biting or sucking of lip without Blake Lively’s consent.” Numerous other requests involved intimacy and physical touch, indicating that unprofessional interactions had occurred to the extent that a meeting had to be called to address them.
Amidst the backlash against Lively, many of her past co-workers and friends have spoken out in support. Most notably, her co-star Brandon Skenlar came to her defense, tagging Lively in an Instagram post with a red heart emoji and saying, “For the love of God read this,” referring to a New York Times article detailing the alleged smear campaign Baldoni’s PR team orchestrated. This is the exact article that Baldoni later sued for 250 million dollars, titled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.” This bombshell article included text messages and emails that were obtained through a subpoena. NYT included numerous excerpts of the texts, which appear to incriminate Baldonia and Nathan in turning public opinion against Lively by orchestrating an elaborate smear campaign. A notable quote that inspired the title of the article itself came from Nathan, who wrote “You know we can bury anyone.” The theory that Baldoni purposely trashed Blake’s reputation is further exacerbated by Jennifer Abel, a member of Nathan’s team, texting on Aug 4th 2024, “I’m having reckless thoughts of wanting to plant pieces this week of how horrible Blake is to work with. Just to get ahead of it.” The text messages detail how the PR team worked with outside teams to “shift the narrative” to support Baldoni. By mid-August, most of the work was supposedly done, with Abel texting: “The narrative online is so freaking good and fans are still sticking up for Justin and there literally has been no pickup of those two articles which is actually shocking to me.” Baldoni’s team claimed in the lawsuit that the texts had been heavily edited and taken out of context, which is why they’re suing for libel.
In a recent win in June for Lively and the New York Times, the 400 million dollar defamation and extortion countersuit against Lively and the 250 million dollar libel lawsuit against the New York Times have been struck down by a federal judge on the account of Baldoni not having any evidence that either of them lied about the claims that tarnished his reputation. Without any proof that their allegations are false, there is no ground for defamation since the two parties could simply be telling the truth. However, Lively’s suit against Baldoni is still scheduled for trial on March 9th, 2026 and neither side looks like they’re planning on discussing settlement anytime soon. With an onslaught of misinformation and manipulation online, it’s impossible to predict what the final verdict may be. But understanding the media and public treatment of sexual harassment allegations by women in the past few years can shed light on potential biases that may arise against Lively during the trial.
Sexual assault became a focus of mainstream culture through the eruption of the #MeToo Movement. The term was originally coined in 2006 by Tarana Burke, a sexual assault survivor who wanted to build a community of advocates to support victims. The movement went viral in October 2017, shortly after an exposé article on Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault history tore through the Internet. Specifically, it was brought into popularity by actress Alyssa Milano, who tweeted #MeToo and encouraged those who had been sexually assaulted or assaulted to do the same in an attempt to create awareness about the issue. Within 24 hours, 12 million posts were shared regarding the topic, indicating the start of a global movement. In addition to Weinstein, in the months following this incident, numerous other powerful men were accused, such as Bill Cosby and Morgan Freeman. The popularity of the movement introduced a new culture, moving away from expecting silence from victims towards creating a space where women are believed when they speak out against abusers. Ironically enough, the same woman who co-wrote the exposé article on Weinstein and won a Pulitzer Prize in Public Service for it was the primary author of the exposé article of Baldoni. Just eight years ago, she took down a sexual assaulter and earned praise for it, but when she tried to do the same in 2025, she faced not only public backlash but a 250-million-dollar lawsuit.
The widely known Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial in 2022 was a key indicator of the decline of the #MeToo era. Heard was originally a major figure in the movement, with her domestic violence accusations against Depp fueling and resonating with those outraged by the Weinstein scandal that swept through the nation. Heard filed for a divorce from Depp in 2016, also filing a restraining order on the grounds of domestic violence just days after. Depp quickly denied the allegations, and the two settled the dispute out of court. However, in 2018, Depp sued a United Kingdom newspaper, The Sun, for calling him a “wife beater,” claiming it was libel. Heard testified against him, providing 14 alleged assaults, of which the judge found 12 of the claims to be proved to the civil standard. Depp hitting Heard and throwing glasses at her, which multiple witnesses were able to attest to. Heard also claimed that Depp severed the tip of his finger from punching the wall and used the finger to write shaming messages about her on the mirror and lampshade. Not only did Heard’s sister and friend testify that they saw her covered in bruises shortly after the incident, but texts showing Depp asking his staff to lie about the origin of his finger injury were revealed, as he claimed Heard had caused it by throwing a bottle at him. These are only two of the alleged twelve proven assaults, each backed with witnesses and evidence, but despite all of this, Depp managed to win the defamation case against Heard, who claimed she was a domestic abuse victim in a Washington Post article. Why is that?
Legal experts following this case have attributed it to the fact that the UK trial’s verdict was determined only by a judge, while the US trial took place before a jury. Depp’s lawyers used the DARVO strategy: “deny, attack, and reverse victim and offender.” Instead of the question being “Did the alleged assaults occur?” they turn the question into “Is the alleged victim believable?” While those experienced in the legal field, like a judge, can spot these tactics, a jury is susceptible to these manipulation tactics. Social media also fell for this as the general sentiment turned against Heard drastically. An obvious reason for this is the popularity of Depp, who stars in several hit movies, from Edward Scissorhands to Pirates of the Caribbean. People have long seen Depp as an attractive and high-status figure, and they refuse to believe he would be capable of assault. The hashtag #justiceforjohnnydepp got over 19 billion views on TikTok. While jurors were told to stay away from the case online, their cell phone usage was not regulated. They could easily have seen the discussions and been swayed by how they believed their choice would be received by the public. The shift in sentiment online may have also been the work of same crisis PR expert Nathan, as she managed Depp during this period, and reports have shown several dubious Twitter accounts and outlets spending millions promoting anti-Heard ads and videos.
While the Heard-Depp case differs from what is happening currently between Baldoni and Lively in terms of the evidence released and the extent of injuries, they have one thing in common: they’re fighting battles of reputation, not assault. Just as Depp discredited Heard on social media, Baldoni might just be doing the same thing if that particular New York Times article is true. Instead of being concerned about refuting and disproving the sexual harassment claims, Baldoni and his team appear to be focusing their efforts on “crafting a narrative” that could win over the jury, taking a page out of the DARVO playbook. Two high-profile women spoke out, accusing prominent men of being abusers, yet were faced with an onslaught of questioning and rejection by social media. Our culture has undoubtedly relapsed to before the #MeToo movement, or perhaps even gotten worse when it comes to believing women.
The reason behind this may be that many people believed the movement had become too extreme. Instead of outrightly spouting misogynistic ideas, they chose an elegant alternative: aligning with Depp or Baldoni in somewhat ambiguous cases to implicitly express their opposition. Perhaps it is the fear of men being falsely accused of sexual assault that is driving this change. Or is this the anti-woke campaign making its mark after being stifled during #MeToo era? Whatever it is, it is affecting how women who speak out against their harassers and abusers are treated in our society. No matter how spoiled or stuck up you think Lively might be, that doesn’t mean she didn’t experience sexual harassment. Her reputation has nothing to do with the claims she is making, but unfortunately, our post-#MeToo world doesn’t seem to understand this.
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