It Ends With Us, a romantic drama movie based off Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel, has gained national attention after a legal feud between co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. The story follows Lily Bloom (Lively), an aspiring florist, and neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni) through their relationship, which slowly becomes abusive as Ryle’s aggressive side is revealed (netflix.com). Was this aggression all in the script, though?
Blake Lively’s sexual harassment complaint filed against Baldoni, who also directed the film, alleges that Baldoni created a hostile environment on set (today.com). Other claims include inappropriate conduct from Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath, detailing the two showing sexually explicit images and videos to Lively (today.com). The New York Times published the complaint the following day, pushing Baldoni to sue the Times for libel (today.com). In response, the Times refuted Baldoni’s claims and assured that their “story was meticulously and responsibly reported” (CBS Mornings). It didn’t end there. Tensions only increased as the legal actions became more personal as Baldoni filed a $400 million defamation suit against both Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds.
The media is strongly divided on the situations. On one hand, some are coming to Lively’s defense and arguing she is a victim of sexual harassment. On the other hand, the majority of Americans are accusing Lively of trying to get revenge on Baldoni for her poor PR during the film’s rollout that she deems him responsible for. Ramapo senior Eva Merchan comments, “Personally I think both sides have their wrongs but with all the new evidence coming out it seems like Justin Baldoni has the upper hand. It’s all just super weird, especially the negative stuff that has come out about Blake Lively recently even before this lawsuit. I think this is a perfect example of the power that social media has on the way celebrities are portrayed to the masses.” Ramapo’s social media marketing teacher Mrs. Migliacci expands: “Social media fuels the spread of rumors and misinformation when it comes to celebrities due to its capabilities to easily share and like information.” The case bears many similarities to the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard scandal back in 2022 in which Heard claimed that Depp abused her throughout their marriage. Depp was awarded over $10 million when he won the defamation case, which was live streamed on YouTube for millions of Americans to watch and form their own opinions (npr.org).
Will the Lively-Baldoni case bear similar results? Or are the two situations completely unrelated? Americans continue to watch as new information is revealed about the case and both sides stand their ground. Who is telling the truth?
