From the moment Justin Baldoni announced in 2019 that he would be adapting his best-selling book It Ends With Us into a movie, there was widespread frenzy.

Few books have become as huge a cultural phenomenon in recent years as Colleen Hoover’s novel — it has sold 20 million copies and become an internet sensation on TikTok, the app There are over 1 billion tags on.

When Blake Lively rose to fame in the 2000s for playing Serena van der Woodsen in Gossip Girl, fans got even more excited, saying She was the perfect choice to play Lily Bloom. Witnessed domestic abuse and ended up in the same situation years later.

Lily is a Boston florist with her charming but sadistic boyfriend Ryle Kincaid (played by Jane the Virgin’s Justin Baldoni) and her compassionate first love Atlas Corrigan (Bloomberg). A complicated love triangle unfolds between Landon Skrennar).

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

Despite the financial success, things weren’t going so smoothly behind the scenes. Rumors of a feud between Baldoni and Lively began circulating before the movie was released.

Last week, Lively filed legal action against her co-star, Accused him of sexual harassment and started smearing herBaldoni vehemently denies this. The story so far is this:

For a film about domestic violence, the press tour for “Stand With Us” might not be what you expect. There were pink carpets, flowers and promotions for Lively’s new hair care brand and her husband’s gin company.

Instead of promoting on the red carpet, Lively emphasized fashion and florals.

At the London premiere, the press was told to keep questions “fun and light” and one event organizer told me to “steer away from questions about domestic abuse”.

Her words at the New York premiere – “You’re more than just a survivor or a victim” – sparked a backlash on social media.

Domestic violence survivor Ashley Page Language critical of Ms. Lively and told the BBC that her own trauma “shaped my identity”.

Lively also faced criticism for comments she made in another ham-fisted promotional tour video, in which she said: “Grab your friends, put on your flowers, go out and see it.”

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

In addition to what was described as a “tone-deaf” press tour, people began asking why Lively and Baldoni didn’t walk the red carpet together at the film’s New York premiere on Aug. 6.

The pair also didn’t do interviews together during the press tour and London premiere, with Baldoni not attending and Lively’s team warning me not to “ask any questions about Justin.”

Internet sleuths also discovered that the cast, including Lively and writer Hoover, did not follow Baldoni on social media.

Neither Lively nor Baldoni addressed rumors of a feud during press conferences, with the only mention of the other being Baldoni telling TODAY that his costar is a “dynamic creative.”

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

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

have Two-star review from Tim Robbie in The Telegraphwhich he called a “disgusting drama” that “repackages domestic violence as tawdry romance.”

He suggested that the film “combines big-city abuse with glamorous courtship to deeply questionable effect”.

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

Based on this misconception, some people said they found the film distressing because they were unaware it contained scenes of domestic abuse.

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

Shortly after the press tour ended, Lively received a lot of criticism on social media for her comments during that tour, as well as previous interviews.

One of the interviews that has resurfaced was shared by Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa, who posted a video of her 2016 interview with Lively on YouTube. The video was titled “Blake Lively’s Interview Makes Me Want to Quit.”

Actor Brandon Sklenar, who plays Atlas in the film, defended Lively, posting on Instagram: People are ‘slandering’ women online who worked on the film.

He said it was “disheartening to see so much negativity” and that one person close to him who had been through a similar relationship to Lily credited the film with “saving her life”.

Four months after the film was released, Lively files legal action She accused Mr Baldoni of sexual harassment.

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

Legal documents accuse Mr Baldoni and Wayfarer CEO Jamie Heath of “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing conduct.” Several other female cast and crew members also went public about their behavior, the documents said.

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

At the meeting, attendees agreed to a series of demands, including that Mr Baldoni and Mr Heath “no longer describe their genitals” and that a intimacy coordinator be present on set at all times when Ms Lively is present with Mr Baldoni. The producer and the director’s friends were on the set while Ms. Lively was nude.

The list of demands also suggested Mr Baldoni had asked Ms Lively’s trainer her weight and claimed Mr Baldoni and Mr Heath had spoken to Ms Lively about their “porn addiction”.

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

She accused him of orchestrating a plan to “destroy” her reputation in the media and online, including hiring a crisis manager to lead a “sophisticated, coordinated and well-funded revenge plan” against her and using a “digital army” Post social media content that looks authentic.

“To protect against the risk that Ms. Lively would reveal the truth about Mr. Baldoni, the Baldon-Wayfarer team created, planted, amplified, and enhanced content designed to undermine Mr. Baldoni’s credibility,” Ms. Lively’s team wrote in the filing. content.”

Ms Lively said in the document this had caused “significant harm” which affected “every aspect” of her life.

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

Mr. Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, said Saturday in response to the legal complaint: “Ms. Lively and her representatives have made such serious and categorical claims against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and their representatives. It’s a false accusation and it’s disgraceful.”

Mr. Friedman accused Ms. Lively of making numerous demands and threats, including “threats not to show up on the set, threats not to promote the film,” which would ultimately “eventually result in the film not being released during its release if her demands were not met.” die”.

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

Ferreira, Tamblyn and Bledel issued a joint statement on Instagram on Sunday, saying they “stand with Lively and in solidarity with her.” They starred in the 2005 film “Sisters of the Traveling Pants” with Lively.

“Throughout the filming of “With Us,” we watched her find the courage to demand a safe workplace for herself and her colleagues on the set, and we were shocked to see evidence of a premeditated and retaliatory effort that The evidence subsequently damaged her voice,” they wrote.

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

Additional reporting by Grace Dean.