Lively, who stars as the protagonist in the film, has been accused of ‘insensitivity’ by critics who believe the film’s promotional strategies trivialize the serious themes of domestic abuse that the story addresses. Many took offence over the actress using the press interviews to promote her beauty brand, show off her fashion game and even promote her husband Ryan Reynolds‘ alcohol brand, instead of using the platform to promote issues of domestic violence.
Amidst the online drama, Bollywood producer Rhea Kapoor took to the comments section to express her support for Lively. “The commentary on the marketing of the film is so sad. More power to Blake, Colleen and the producers for promoting the crap out of this movie. As a filmmaker, we know how difficult it is to bring real women’s stories into the mainstream and share them with as many people as possible. Celebrate women that we see everyday that have been through this and come out stronger and embrace their light,” Kapoor wrote.
She went on to add, “Normalise telling their stories instead of throwing them into a box. You want to shame the actress for wearing pretty dresses for the press tour instead? What was she supposed to (do)? Hide at home in sweats? A great way to ensure fewer of these stories are told. And so what if she promoted her brand she’s a business woman and she’s doing press. God how judgmental. Are. We.”
However, Rhea’s bid to defend the actress had fans in turn calling her ‘delusional’ for missing out on the point of why Lively was receiving hate. “Rhea has completely missed out the point for which Blake is getting hate,” commented a netizen.
Another asked, “How delusional can these people be?”
Another said, “I got second hand embarrassment reading that ewww.”
Since the release of the film ‘It Ends With Us’, Blake Lively has been receiving flack for her promotional approach which has drawn significant criticism. Netizens complained that the lead actress Lively, was treating the movie as if it was a romantic-comedy and not a movie about domestic violence. Critics are questioning why she would star in such a film if she doesn’t intend to treat the subject matter with the seriousness it deserves. Some even suggested that her approach trivializes the gravity of domestic violence.
Rumours also surfaced of a rift between Lively and her co-star and the film’s director, Justin Baldoni, with allegations of body-shaming and inappropriate behaviour coming from her camp. There’s speculation that Lively worked closely with the studio to ensure her version of the film was released instead of Baldoni’s. Despite alleged negative stories released against Baldoni, internet users have taken a deep dive into the drama and sided with the director over the actress.
Sharing a side-by-side montages of Baldoni and Lively’s drastically different answers about the film’s topic that raised eyebrows. “The internet isn’t happy with how Blake Lively has been conducting herself in “It Ends With Us” PR, comparing her interviews to Justin Baldoni’s. After seeing interviews side-by-side, what do you think?”
Sharing videos of former cast members siding with Baldoni, another wrote, “The funniest thing about the Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively, and the “It Ends with us discourse”, is the narrative and image they’re trying to force on to Justin as if there are not piles of evidence from other people about his conduct and character. Note: I’m not saying that it is impossible that he might have acted one way or the other on set (one of the goals of the movie is telling us anything is possible) but the character evidence of Justin in the past simply does not match what they’re putting out through media outlets.”
Another noted, “seeing the press tour for it ends with us makes me think they filmed two different movies. justin baldoni spoke about the DV, blake is promoting a hair line with it. they also apparently hid the help hotline in the credits.”
Slamming Blake, one wrote, “This is how Blake Lively is promoting her movie about escaping an abusive relationship and breaking the cycle of the abuse… Unhinged and tone deaf. This isn’t Barbie!”
Another said, “No bcuz she’s right why are they mixing deadpool and wolverine with it ends with us press run.”
“I did notice that Justin Baldoni was the only one approaching the It Ends With Us promo seriously, but in comparison this makes Blake Lively look really bad and tone deaf. I don’t think she’s a bad person, however I don’t think she has the emotional depth to understand this fully,” commented another.
Despite the drama, ‘It Ends With Us’, surpassed expectations at the box office opening to a stellar $50 million debut.