Brandon Sklenar has candidly addressed rumors of animosity surfacing online about It Ends With Us. The film’s co-stars and co-producers, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, who also directed the film, have had a disagreement over the final cut of the project. If rumors are to be believed, Lively and Baldoni had different visions for the film; the former wanted to express female choices and individuality, while the latter wanted to send a message to domestic violence victims.
Most netizens sided with the Jane the Virgin actor in this feud, which led to criticism and abuse of not only Lively but all the women involved in the project, including Colleen Hoover, the writer of the source material.
Sklenar, who plays Atlas Corrigan, the childhood friend and ex-boyfriend of Lily Bloom (Lively), called out people for “degrading” the women in the cast. On Wednesday, August 21, the actor shared a lengthy note on Instagram explaining his perspective amid the controversy.
“Colleen and the women in this cast stand for hope, perseverance, and women choosing a better life for themselves,” she wrote. “To denigrate the women who put their heart and soul into making this film … feels counterproductive and undermines the purpose of this film.”
She said that rumours of women diluting the film’s sensitive message were completely contrary to reality and claimed that the film was being made because they believed in the core message.
However, he did not explicitly mention the alleged rift between the film’s leads Lively and Baldoni. He said, “Whatever happened or did not happen behind the scenes does not affect our intention to make this movie, and hopefully it shouldn’t,” referring to the alleged internal rift.
This vague mention indicates that the rift between the actors may be real due to creative differences, which also explains the separate red-carpet appearances and interviews. For promotions, Baldoni spoke alone about the theme of domestic violence and the message of the film. Meanwhile, Lively has been busy with light-hearted and humorous promotions, which most viewers found insensitive to the film.
Despite the controversies, the film was a huge commercial hit, crossing the $100 million mark at the domestic box office in just 11 days. It Ends With Us is now in theaters.