They say that all publicity is good publicity, and that might have been partly true for Blake Lively's movie It Ends With Us. (which is streaming with a Netflix subscription). As it approached theaters, Lively went viral for her behavior at press junkets, while rumors swirled about drama between her and co-star/director Justin Baldoni. Things went from bad to worse thanks to Lively's sexual harassment lawsuit against the production company, which mentioned Badloni. And the publicist who leaked those alleged smear campaign texts from Baldoni recently clapped back, with their rep being quoted that he and company were "desperate to shift attention away from their disgraceful sliming of Blake Lively."
A number of Hollywood figures have supported Blake Lively since the lawsuit was filed, and twists like the leaked text messages involving Baldoni's team have kept eyes on the ongoing situation. Jonesworks founder Stephanie Jones is one big name involved lately, as Baldoni was her client before things went south and she reportedly leaked some texts to Lively's team. Now that she's taking a ton of heat, her attorney issues a statement to Variety, which reads:
Desperate to shift attention away from their disgraceful sliming of Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni’s team is doubling down on their smears by going after someone who had nothing whatsoever to do with this ugly campaign.
Well, they certainly didn't mince words. Jones is seemingly facing a ton of flak in response to the Lively/Baldoni situation, which has made countless headlines as of late. Meanwhile Bryan Freedman, who represents Baldoni and others in the case, claims that Jones had no right to allegedly share private texts to Lively's legal team.
Steph Jones' rep further continues their defense of the press executive in the same statement. It goes on:
Having pushed Steph Jones out of her long-standing business with Baldoni, Jen Abel and Melissa Nathan are now looking to scapegoat Steph for having the temerity to respond to a court-ordered subpoena. Unfortunately for them, Steph won’t be bullied – even by paternalistic threats of being sued into oblivion. To quote Nathan herself, ‘it just shows you have [SIC] people really want to hate on women.’
There you have it. Clearly the situation surrounding It Ends With Us is ongoing, and smart money says the public is going to keep tuning in. We'll just have to wait and see who ends up victorious in court, and how that affects the careers of everyone involved.
Despite the drama surrounding it, it some fans wanted to see It Ends With Us get a sequel. And indeed, the movie did well at the box office and has been popular on Netflix since becoming available to stream. A follow-up movie seems very unlikely at this point, although author Colleen Hoover does seem to be on Lively's side.
It Ends with Us is streaming now on Netflix. For now check the 2025 movie release dates to plan your trips to the movies in the New Year.
