Is Blake Lively a terrible person?

A deep dive into the It Ends With Us drama

The whole concept of this Substack is that we can discuss topics that don’t always have black and white answers, although in the case of Bradley Cooper, it quickly became clear he is the actual worst.

Jennifer Lopez and Katy Perry must be breathing sighs of relief, because it’s Blake Lively’s present and past behaviour that is now being called into question.

It Ends With Us, is Lively’s new film, based on the Colleen Hoover book. Now, I’ve not read any of Colleen’s books, so, you need to fill me in here, but from what I understand, they seem to have women banging down library doors.

This meant I had no idea what the film was about and after seeing a clip of Lively telling fans to, “Grab your friends, wear your florals and head out to see it,” I assumed it was a romcom for the post-Barbie era.

Alongside the film’s release, Lively has also launched her debut hair line: Blake Brown Beauty.

Unaware of what was bubbling underneath, I made a video on my TikTok about her new venture and said, if I was on Dragon’s Den, I wouldn’t invest in it.

448 comments later, it became clear that I wasn’t the only one unimpressed with the brand, but for different reasons entirely.

@laucaponReplying to @R A C H A N N 🍾 Blake Lively’s haircare brand, let’s talk about it #blakebrown #blakelively #blakelivelyhair #celebritybeauty #beautyindustry #learnwithlc

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Now, I do want to see the film with my friend Sop (who has read the book), so I don’t want to ruin the entire plot for myself, but, from what I understand, it’s actually a story about an abusive partner.

Which is why I had so many comments about how inappropriate it was for Lively to use the film to promote her haircare line.

Examples include, launching it to coincide with the film release, discussing it in interviews during the press tour and the New York Times go as far to say that her character’s hair was not only used as “A tool to sell her performance,” but also “A tool to sell her hair”.

While Blake appears to be more focused on the promotional side of things, the film’s director, Justin Baldoni, has put real life domestic violence at the forefront of all his public interviews and claimed he made the film for survivors of this abuse.

Alongside, this different marketing approach, there have been rumours about a rift on set between Baldoni and the rest of the cast. He hasn’t appeared in any group interviews or photographs and it’s been noted that both Lively and Hoover haven’t returned or unfollowed his Instagram account.

The running narrative seems to be that Lively took over on set, including getting her husband Ryan Reynolds to write some dialogue, which Baldoni thought was improv.

When asked if he would direct another one of Hoover’s books, Baldoni’s response was either flattering or snarky, depending on how you look at it.

“I think Blake Lively’s ready to direct, that’s what I think.”

The story that’s been told so far is, an earnest director who wanted to make a film to help women, alongside an actress who used the project to promote her hairline, while secretly meddling behind the scenes with her A-list husband.

Despite it appearing that it’s not just Lively who has a problem with Baldoni, the Internet is firmly on his side and can I just use this opportunity to say, am I the only one who has never heard of this man before?

People refer to him by his first name and expect you to know it’s him.

No, I give that privilege to Bieber and Timberlake only.

What’s happening to Blake now, is exactly what happened to Jlo when she gave her bodega childhood order, citing a vague “orange drink”.

Old videos are resurfacing. One posted by a journalist who interviewed Blake 8 years ago, titling it: The Blake Lively Interview That Made Me Want To Quit My Job.

Clearly, journalist Kjersti Flaa had been biding her time to post it, because if you were picking a team, there’s no way your team Blake after watching it.

For context, Kjersti starts off by congratulating Lively on, “Her little bump”. It was publicly known that she was pregnant at the time and it seems like Kjersti was using it as an ice breaker, rather than a question. But that did not stop Lively taking it as an insult and repeating back, “Congrats on your little bump”.

Watching it back makes me so uncomfortable, I just had to rub my face.

It doesn’t get any better with Lively refusing to look at her and then snarking at another legitimate wardrobe question.

Then, there’s the matter of Lively and Reynolds’ wedding, which took place on a plantation in South Carolina in 2012.

The pair apologised for it in 2020 and made a £200,000 charitable donation, but it’s hard to defend that decision. For a start, why on earth would you want to get married in a place that harbours such a painful and horrific past and would you have apologised if George Floyd’s murder didn’t start a huge social movement?

Just as Blake’s cancellation documents are being processed, there’s a new development.

Baldoni has hired Melissa Nathan, a PR crisis manager, who worked with Johnny Depp during the Amber Heard trial.

TMZ also reported from a “source” that Lively felt fat shamed by Baldoni on set. After he asked how much she weighed in order to prepare himself for a scene where he lifts her up. The source also claimed Lively was not happy with a kissing scene which Baldoni “lingered” on.

If we all took anything away from that former TMZ reporter in the Depp v Heard trial, it’s that TMZ’s sources, tend to be direct from the horses mouth.

I’m so torn on this entire thing. Part of me, thinks it’s a publicity stunt ala Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney in, Anyone But You. While another part of me, and especially after watching that interview, feels Lively must be a nightmare to work with.

But then, I think of the current Strictly Come Dancing drama and bear with me, because I promise it does connect.

If you read the comments on the two male dancers, who have both been accused of abuse towards their partners, you will want a sick bucket.

It’s all women and they are all giving their sympathies to these men, saying how unfair it is and how disgusted they are. Along with a lot of unpleasantries about the women involved.

If Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima looked like a man called Clive I used to work with (sorry Clive), those comments would not be there and if Justin Baldoni wasn’t considered attractive, we’d either have no interest or assume he was another leachy Hollywood director.

Women are awful to other women online. That internalised misogyny has fucked us up and if there’s any whiff of a scandal by someone like Lively, who is perceived to have it all, in terms of looks, money and status, we will take pleasure in her take down.

Even with the plantation wedding, part of me has that niggling worry, would I have been as aware of these things 12 years ago? I really hope I would have been and I can’t ever imagine going to a place like that and seeing anything other than slavery, but, I can’t pretend I’ve never been ignorant.

All these words later and honestly, I don’t know if Blake Lively is a terrible person. Prioritising your haircare line instead of raising awareness, isn’t great (especially if she is wearing a wig in the film, as others suggest), but hello, Oprah and the Rock’s Hawaii fund.

Since when do millionaires and billionaires make ethical decisions?

The one thing that really does go against her (aside from the plantation wedding), is that interview.

Admittedly, I have a bias. Being that I have been in that interviewer’s position myself and those junkets are nerve racking to say the least. I just would never treat someone that way, especially someone who was clearly being genuine and considerate.

As for the cast drama. I don’t know either. Do the other actors feel they have to choose between mum and dad? Has Baldoni excused himself to make things easier all round?

Is he a terrible person?

I don’t know, but you can be sure someone on TikTok will.