Justin Baldoni Made a Curious PR Move Amid His Drama With Blake Lively & the 'It Ends With Us' Cast
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Blake Lively had a successful weekend at the box office with the movie, It Ends With Us, opening at $50 million. That’s an incredible feat during a challenging time at the movie theaters, but nobody is talking about that win — fans are too entrenched in the reported feud between her and director and co-star Justin Baldoni.
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Now, Baldoni may have escalated the drama by hiring crisis public relations manager Melissa Nathan of The Agency Group. Nathan made a name for herself representing Johnny Depp, along with Matthew Hiltzik, during his high-profile trial against Amber Heard. Baldoni is making a pretty big statement with this PR move because he’s up against the star power of Lively and her equally A-list husband, Ryan Reynolds.
The hiring comes after rumors spread from TikTok to the mainstream that Baldoni had issues with Lively and Reynolds essentially taking over the project with their final cut of the film, per Puck News. Fans jumped into the fray when they noticed that the cast and author Colleen Hoover had unfollowed Baldoni on social media even though he still follows them. “All is not what it seems,” a set source shared with People. “There is much more to this story. The principal cast and [author] Colleen Hoover will have nothing to do with him.”
The war is being fought in the press after the People insider took the first shot at Baldoni. TMZ fired back that the director was “screwed” by the power couple because this was Baldoni’s passion project. They framed him as “a nice guy to work with [who] cared a lot about the production.” When Depp’s trial was going on, his go-to media outlet was TMZ, so the lines have been drawn even in the press. Nathan might be the source of the Baldoni feel-good story while Lively and Reynolds’ reps might be talking to People.
The movie’s screenwriter and co-producer Christy Hall talked to SheKnows ahead of the film’s release and sang Baldoni’s praises. “I feel like he loved this story from the beginning, and just regardless of what hat he’s wearing just was doing everything that he could to get it right,” she said. “I think he made Colleen a promise that he wouldn’t let her down, and he intended to keep that promise.”
The court of public opinion is on Baldoni’s side because some critics felt that Lively marketed a movie about domestic violence in a rom-com way. It was uncomfortable for some because of the movie’s dark topic, but others think Lively is making a point with her social media move. “y’all were too busy hating on blake lively and ryan reynolds, that u overlooked the fact that the ENTIRE cast unfollowed justin baldoni,” one account wrote on X.
The frenzy might be feeding the box office, though, so it’s going to be a win in the end for Lively and Baldoni. Maybe they won’t work together ever again, but the bad press is making people curious about It Ends With Us even more.
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