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Throughout August, there has been an onslaught of rumors, speculation and criticism surrounding the film It Ends With Us. In the days leading up to its release on the 2024 movie schedule, reports and speculative TikToks about the alleged drama between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni as well as claims about how the film and its marketing handled the domestic violence in the story went viral. Now, one of the movie’s stars, Brandon Sklenar, has released a statement addressing what has gone down.
Brandon Sklenar plays Atlas, Lily’s (Blake Lively) first love who she runs into years after they met, in It Ends With Us. He took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the online discourse surrounding the film, saying what has happened has “been disheartening to see,” he wrote in part:
Colleen [Hoover] and the women of this cast stand for hope, perseverance, and for women choosing a better life for themselves. Vilifying the women who put so much of their heart and soul into making this film because they believe so strongly in its message seems counterproductive and detracts from what this film is about. It is, in fact, the opposite of the point. What may or may not have happened behind the scenes does not and hopefully should not detract from what our intentions were in making this film. It’s been disheartening to see the amount of negativity being projected online.
The 1923 actor’s post comes in the days following the aforementioned reports about the films’ stars and a journalist posting an old interview of Blake Lively that went viral and was heavily criticized. Since then, other old interviews of the Gossip Girl actress have gone viral, and people have been debating how she was acting.
This is all piled on to the alleged behind-the-scenes drama regarding post-production and on-set disagreements between Lively and Baldoni. Plus, it’s added to the discourse surrounding how domestic violence was portrayed in the film and spoken about during the project’s promotion.
Sklenar noted that everyone who worked on this movie understood the “responsibility” that came with the story they were telling, writing:
Trust me when I tell you, there isn’t a single person involved in the making of this film that was not aware of the responsibility we had in making this. A responsibility to all the women who have experienced generational trauma – domestic abuse – or struggle with looking in the mirror and loving who they see.
He went on to explain how the film addresses its sensitive topics, like domestic violence, saying that someone close to him “has been struggling with a relationship that has mirrored Lily’s closely.” He mentioned that his loved one “credits Colleen’s book and subsequently this film for saving her life.”
While a lot of the speculation and reports surrounding this project have pointed fingers at Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, the only person Sklenar specifically named in his statement was the book’s author Colleen Hoover. However, he did address the rumors that are flying around online, and he asked people to think critically about what they are seeing and posting:
All I ask is that before you spread hate on the internet, ask yourself who it’s helping. Ask yourself if your opinions are based in any fact. Or if you simply want to be part of something. Let’s be part of something better together. A part of a new story being written for women and all people everywhere.
You can read his full statement below:
As of right now, Brandon Sklenar is the only person who has directly addressed the viral discourse that’s surrounding It Ends With Us. If more people connected to the film share statements or speak about this topic, we’ll be sure to let you know.
If you are looking to see the movie for yourself, you can catch It Ends With Us in theaters now.