Brandon Sklenar speaks out on the recent claims involving hisIt Ends With Usco-stars. Sklenar played Atlas in the popular 2024 romance movie, based on the Colleen Hoover novel of the same name. Leading the film were Justin Baldoni andBlake Lively, who played the roles of Ryle and Lily, respectively. Baldoni also was the movie’s director and reportedly had tension on set with co-star Lively. The underlying reason for this tension was recently revealed whenLively came forward with sexual harassment claims against Baldoni.
Now,Sklenarhas responded to these unfortunate revelationsabout theIt Ends With Ussituation on Instagram.
Sklenar wrote a long response, with a screenshot included on Instagram. He began that the women who have worked onIt Ends With Us"stand for hope, perseverance, and for women choosing a better life for themselves." As such, he hoped that the recent news about Baldoni does not “detract from what [the It Ends With Us team’s] intentions were in making this film.” As such, he encouraged people not to spread too much hate online. In addition, he encouraged people to read Lively’s complaint, in an Instagram story that can be found below:
What This Means For It Ends With Us
Others Have Come To Support Lively
Sklenar’s response graciously acknowledges the importance of theIt Ends With Usstoryin the face of all this backlash. Most recently, this has taken the form of Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni. She is accusing Baldoni and his production company ofsexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment. The star also claimed that incidents on set needed to be escalated, requiring an “all-hands-on-deck meeting” to mitigate the issue.
It Ends With Us Sequel Spoilers: What Happens In The Second Book
The recent movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us has viewers wondering what happens to Lily and Atlas in the sequel, It Starts with Us.
Furthermore, this response also backs up how the cast responded when the movie was released in August. It was apparent thatthe cast avoided Baldoni during much of the press and promotionfor the film, which was one of the factors that raised an eyebrow about thepotential behind-the-scenesIt Ends With Usfeudbetween the director and Lively. The sameNew York Timesarticle that Skelnar pinned addressed this, with the following:
As the film release neared, Ms. Lively and other cast members informed Sony and Wayfarer that they would not do any appearances alongside Mr. Baldoni. So did Ms. Hoover, the author, who had her own dissatisfactions with him and had become more upset after he told her about Ms. Lively’s allegations, according to text messages from Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath.
Sklenar is not the first person to bat for Lively following this news. Johnny Depp’s former partnerAmber Heard also recently voiced her support, noting that the same PR team was used forIt Ends With Usas was used by Depp in the defamation trial against Heard in 2022. Heard may not be involved inIt Ends With Us, but she provides a valuable perspective as a woman greatly affected by bad PR practice. In addition, the movie’s studio Sony also spoke up on the issue, saying: “We applaud Blake Lively’s courage in speaking out on issues of retaliation…”
Our Take On Sklenar’s It Ends With Us Response
The Situation Complicates Opinions Of The Film
Sklenar responded in the best way he could, given this extremely complicated situation. Because of Baldoni’s deep involvement inIt Ends With Us, it would be easy enough to effectively “cancel” the film. The subject matter, which is designed to empower women to leave abusive situations, makes the role of the film far more complicated within this legal issue. Sklenar’s response recognizes this by emphasizing the value thatIt Ends With Uscan have for women.
It Ends With Us
Cast
Based on Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel, It Ends With Us is a drama-romance film directed by Justin Baldoni. The film follows a recent college graduate named Lily, who meets a man named Ryle and falls in love with him. However, a traumatic incident compounded with her former high-school sweetheart re-entering her life complicates her plans.
