Transcription
Okay guys, it has been a minute, but we have some Hollywood drama that we need to dive into. The tea is piping hot! Yes, I'll actually take a sip of this cup for once because this tea is scalding.
So, something wild just happened in Hollywood. Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, obviously they are married, and everybody loves them. They just became the first married couple to top the box office for their own movies at the same time in over 34 years. This is because Blake has a movie out right now called *It Ends With Us*, and Ryan is obviously doing *Deadpool* and *Wolverine*, which we talked about.
However, this success came at a cost. It might have actually cost Blake her entire reputation because people are so angry at how she's been handling the promotion of this film. Let's hurry up and dive on in because this story has so many layers.
Before we do, though, make sure that you like this video, subscribe to the comment section channel if you have not already, and of course, ring that notification bell so that you never miss one of our episodes.
Alright, so the movie is called *It Ends With Us*, and it is actually a book by author Colleen Hoover. If you guys are on TikTok or social media, I am sure that you have heard of her. She became loved and a bit notorious on BookTok, which is obviously like the book lover side of TikTok. This book specifically, *It Ends With Us*, blew her up a couple of years ago as an author, and she's only gotten more famous and more successful since then. A lot of people genuinely love her books, and other people kind of like love-hate read them because the writing is a bit wild. It's a bit spicy, I would say. It kind of is out there—maybe not the most intelligent writing on the face of the Earth—but the books are juicy, the stories are juicy, and they really draw people in.
Apparently, Blake was one of those people who absolutely loved the book, and Colleen Hoover loved her as an actress. So, she specifically wanted her to come on board. It seemed like a match made in heaven. She and Ryan got involved; they funded a lot of it, which is how we've gotten here. So, they're the producers on the project. They funded a lot of it, and Blake actually cast herself as the female lead, which a year ago had already pissed a lot of people off because they thought that she was too old for the role and that she wasn't right for the role. But hey, you know what? It's her movie; it's her money.
However, it really wasn't her movie from the start. Actor and director Justin Baldoni was the first to acquire the rights to the book many years ago. He was the first one involved. He ended up starring in the film opposite her and directed the whole project. Just lodge that point in your brain for later because, due to the way that this film is being promoted, you would not think that this is his brainchild. You would think that this is all the Blake Lively show.
But anyway, both of them would be playing dual roles: her as the star and the producer, him as the star and the director, also producing some of it. If you don't know who he is, I'm sorry guys, there's so much context here. Bear with me. I actually just, as a side note, cut this episode down so much. There was so much I wanted to say, so many details and things that I've seen online, but I was like, "No, Brett, we got to stick with the story." So, you're welcome, my friends.
Okay, so Justin, if you don't know who he is, he became famous from the show *Jane the Virgin*, which is one of my favorite contemporary shows ever. It's so great, it's so heartwarming, so funny. You should absolutely go watch it. But he rolled that success into a career in producing and directing. He founded his own production company, which came on to help produce this film, like I said. He's directed a couple of big films over the past couple of years, and he has really made a name for himself. I mean, like this man, guys, is loved—absolutely adored. I have not seen a single person say a negative thing about him. I know a few people who have worked with him; they absolutely adore him. He is apparently just a gem of a human being—a great actor, a great director, wholesome, wholesome, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
That is important context because all of that is why it was so odd that when it came time to start promoting *It Ends With Us* last month, Justin was nowhere to be found. Blake and Ryan were doing interviews, the cast was doing interviews, they were all hanging out together, you know, lovey-dovey, having so much fun. No Justin. Nothing. He wasn't doing any cast interviews; he wasn't even coming to a lot of the events.
So, of course, people started to speculate. But then everybody seemed to kind of put that to rest because they remembered he had just been traveling with his family. His wife is Swedish; I think they were in Sweden for part of the summer. He had actually had some health problems; he ended up in the hospital. So, everybody went, "Okay, it's all fine. There's no problems in paradise. He's probably just focusing on his health, being with his family, everything like that."
But then it changed because then he did start doing press for the film, and he never once blamed himself. He never once gave a reason for why he wasn't doing it initially. And even though he had started doing press, his press was completely separate from the rest of the cast and the crew and the production team.
And then, guys, it only got worse because the premiere happened last week, and this is where everything just kind of fell apart and broke open. My For You page was just dominated by *It Ends With Us* cast theories, all of this stuff because they were all there together. Everyone was at the premiere; it was a huge deal. It looked beautiful. You know, Blake Lively looked stunning; everybody was excited. But Justin, again, did not do a single interview with Blake or the cast. He was not in a single photo with the rest of the team.
And then on top of that, all of the big influencers and the celebrities coming to support the film, they were tagging Blake up and down their Instagrams and their TikToks—not a single post about Justin. Weird.
So, obviously, the TikTok sleuths started diving in. Just watch; they're all still not interacting with Justin. Mind you, he's the producer, director, and a main character. Oh, best believe I'm going to get to the bottom of this!
Literally, everyone was pictured separately. Blake, we've got Ryan and her other co-star Brandon. We've got Ryan and Blake. Even Hugh Jackman, who has been on a press tour with Ryan for the past couple of months. This almost feels like an extension of the *Deadpool* and *Wolverine* promo tour. Like, Justin Baldoni should have been in that photo instead of Hugh Jackman, which should have been Justin and Blake and Ryan. They were all the producers, but no, they randomly brought Hugh Jackman in because he's been on tour with Ryan promoting *Deadpool* and *Wolverine*.
And they were like, "Haha, this is so fun, this is so silly. We're all bringing all of our friends here. It's so great." Let's just ignore the fact that one person is nowhere to be seen. Awkward.
Let's let her continue. If you look at Justin's Instagram story, it's only pictures of himself on the red carpet with his wife. She's doing interviews alone, and then a group shot, and that's his podcast co-host. Speaking of that, something's going on with these two as well. These two are the co-hosts of the *Man Enough* podcast. So, it's all three of them; they all host a podcast together. The guy came with Justin and was hanging out with Justin at the premiere. The girl, on the other hand, seemed to be Team Blake. If there are even teams to be had now, Liz was at the premiere last night. She's only tagging Blake Lively; there's no mention anywhere of Justin, even though she's there to promote the film that her podcast co-host starred in, directed, and produced.
Obviously, very, very weird. So, knowing all of that and seeing all of that about the premiere, at this point, the general consensus on social media was that this was a mutual decision. This was, you know, a creative decision from Blake and from Justin. It was kind of like a PR stunt because here's the thing: *It Ends With Us* is a story about domestic violence and abuse, and the character that Justin Baldoni is playing is the abuser.
So, this all could make sense if they didn't want to hype up a fun, silly little relationship and everybody was bantering and having fun when instead they wanted to send a message about his character, have him be separate from the rest of the cast because he is playing the villain. A lot of people are commenting about this. One person said, "They said in the very beginning Justin didn't like playing Ryle and didn't want to romanticize the movie." Another girl said, "I was thinking maybe they didn't want to romanticize the relationship between Ryle and Lily."
Another person said, "I don't know, with somebody who's read the book, the idea of ignoring him as promo makes sense." However, my friends, if that were the case, you would assume that they would make a bigger deal out of that. That they would make that the focal point of the promotion. That they would make all the promotion about the message of the film. If they were doing this whole PR thing and making him out to be the villain very intentionally, that would be part of the storytelling on their PR tour. They would be talking about domestic violence in a serious, consistent way in all these interviews. They would make it known that this is why they were promoting the film in such a specific way.
But here's the thing: Justin is the only person involved who is talking about the film in that light. Here are a couple of examples. Watch this: "I think all of the scenes showcasing gender-based violence, I think that was very hard for me. I almost had to step out of my body there were a lot of times, even thinking about it, it's hard. There were a lot of times where I would have to go privately into a room and just cry or shake it out and try to get him out of me and that energy out of me because it's too real."
And I love that he's framing it in this light because as an actor, when you are playing such an intense role, it's not really good enough to just pretend like you're being an abuser or pretend like you're really angry. You have to literally feel it in every cell of your body in order for it to seem real to the cameras, to the producers, to the audiences, to the other actor in the scene who is relying on your performance to give their performance. It has to be super real. Acting is putting yourself in the given circumstances of your character and of the story.
As a result, when you're playing a role like this, it is incredibly intense, and that's why method acting is so hard. That's why it causes the spiral of so many actors because it is so intense. So, that's kind of what you're seeing here. That's why he's taking this so seriously. There are too many people that are the real-life Lily Blooms of the world that have to deal with that every single day, and I wanted it to be as real as possible.
And yet, it was very hard to shoot those scenes. From the beginning, I wanted all the intimate scenes to be from a female gaze, and I never wanted my bias to potentially, you know, interject and go into the film. And I think that's another important thing to just lock away in your head. He's saying that he took a step back in certain scenes; you know that Blake stepped in and directed some of this. Just remember that.
Now, people have loved all of this. One person commented and said, "This is the promotion that needs and should be made for this movie/book. Thank you, Justin Baldoni." And then just to drive the point home, here's one more example of how he's handling these questions and these interviews: "This is your night, Mister."
"No, this isn't my night. This is a night for all the women who we made this movie for. This is a night for Blake; this is a night for Colleen. I'm just so grateful that we're here five years in the making. When you love something so much and when you're touched and moved by something as deeply as I was by this book, it just kind of comes naturally."
Yes, this is a movie about love and hope, but we don't shy away from the issue. I mean, in every interview, every answer that he gives on this press tour, he's bringing it back to the point of the film and why he was so inspired to come on board, why he was inspired to make this project. He's talking about the audience, about the meaning of it, and again, people love that.
Another woman commented and said, "The fact that he keeps cheering on his co-workers and they don't say anything about him, he deserves so much better." I mean, yeah, he's not making it about him whatsoever. He's basically saying, "I am just a vehicle. I'm just happy to be here. I'm so happy that this story is out in the world." He's congratulating everybody else; he's speaking to women. I mean, everything he is doing is trying to show care and respect for the story and why it was written and for the people who will be impacted by and relate to the story the most. That is what he's trying to get across.
Now, on the other hand—and again, it pains me to say this because I love Blake Lively—Blake and her squad are making this out to be some silly fun romcom and a way to promote her new hair care line that she just launched last week in the middle of promoting this film. They're kind of treating the whole thing like it's this *It Ends With Us* *Deadpool* *Wolverine* crossover where this power couple, yada yada yada, as this TikToker so aptly shared.
Okay, the more I look into this, the more fishy it is, and it just seems a bit tone-deaf. Why are we using a movie about domestic violence to promote your hair brand? Why is the PR packet only fluffy instead of raising awareness and talking about the heart of this film?
During the press tour, Ryan came on and interviewed Blake Lively's other love interest in the film and made it this whole silly, funny, "Oh my gosh, you kissed my wife on screen!" Yada yada. I mean, truly, I didn't know much about this book before I started looking into the story. I thought that it was a romcom; I thought that it was happy, funny, go-lucky. And so many people online have felt the same way. They're posting videos of them and their girl squad, their moms going to see the movie, and then they walk out and they're like, "Oh my! I had no idea!" Like, bawling. Genuinely had no idea because this is the way that it's being promoted thanks to Blake and Co.
I think that is why Justin Baldoni is in the backseat right now. He was the director of the film; Blake Lively was a producer. Somehow, Ryan Reynolds got involved for some reason and wrote a couple of scenes. I know Justin said in an interview that he purposefully took a backseat in some of the intimate scenes so that the women could take control of that. Personally, I think that what happened is that he got a bit bulldozed over in the creative process. That probably created a bit of a disconnect. Blake Lively is very popular, and I think that the way that this PR is going, he wants no part in it.
At first, I'll be honest, I watched that TikTok and I watched a couple of other people speculating very similar things, and I was like, "Okay, I don't know. I don't know if it's really Blake's intent to make the film out to be this." Maybe she's just excited because this is a passion project. She's excited because she has this hair care brand coming out; her husband is succeeding. It's just a great time in her life.
But then I really started listening to her interviews, and you can't deny the truth. Watch this: "I feel like you poured a lot into this movie, but then you turned around and you were just as supportive of Ryan. What is it like to promote my hair care company?"
Blake, my goodness gracious, it's been crazy. It's been a crazy week. I keep looking around going like, "Remember these moments? These are the moments at the end of your life where you're going to look back and say, 'Wow, that was my beautiful life.'"
And of course, that's a nice sentiment, and obviously, like I said, things are going very well in their lives. I'm sure that they're very happy. But again, considering what the movie is about and the message that you are allegedly trying to share with the world, promoting Blake Brown, my hair company at this moment doesn't really seem like the right decision.
The girl who posted this video said, "I'm normally a big fan of girly popping as a promo strategy, but I fear not everything can be girly popped, and it's just not the vibe for a movie like *It Ends With Us*."
Obviously, none of us actually know what's going on in the press tour, but the Blake and Ryan show in *Wolverine*—what are you doing? Freezing out Justin Baldoni, who seems to be the only one treating the heavy domestic violence themes with care, feels a bit disconcerting and off.
All of that has kind of become the common sentiment: "Are you promoting a film, or are you promoting yourself?" Because those are two very different things. You can sort of do both, but I feel like you're prioritizing one over the other, and people are just not happy.
The irony that the man who plays the abuser seems to be the only one to continually remember that this is a story about abuse should not be lost on Blake, and somehow it is. Another person said, "She is so tone-deaf, honestly. Like, OMG, I'm amazing. Oh yeah, I made a movie about domestic violence, but hey, let's not think about that."
Another person said, "I'm kind of sick of her. Just sick of Hollywood in general." I mean, people already think that celebrities are so out of touch. This might have been just another nail in the coffin, even for a couple that is as beloved as Blake and Ryan, especially after people caught wind of this next interview that had my jaw on the floor.
"So if someone understands the themes of this movie, comes across you in public, and they want to really talk to you, what's the best way for them to be able to talk to you about this? How would you recommend they go about it?"
"Are you asking for like my address or my phone number or like my location? I could just location share you, and then we could, uh, I'm just social security number. I'm a Virgo, so I'm like, are we talking logistics or are we talking emotionally?"
Okay, it's not really that difficult of a question. He wasn't asking you logistically. I think he knew what he was asking, and even if he asked it in a weird way, you could easily, because you are seemingly an intelligent woman, understand what the point of that question is.
I mean, that is genuinely a good question because obviously many people watching the film, sadly, are going to relate on a deeply personal level. They're going to be grateful that you made this film; they're going to be interested in why you made it. They're going to want to share their story because they relate to it so personally.
Like, if they ever met or ran into Blake, I'm sure that they would want to say something—maybe some sort of praise or thanks, wanting to share a piece of their story. Like, that's normal. I'm nowhere near as known as Blake Lively, and I saw people come up to me, and they want to talk about one specific episode that I've made or a video that I've talked about or a way that I've changed the way that they thought about something. That's normal, and it's genuinely so wonderful because it's like, "Oh my gosh, I'm doing this for a reason." It makes the show that much more meaningful because I know that it's impacting real people in a real way.
Again, that's normal, and she blew it off as some kind of joke. Like, that possible interaction is very plausible; it's also very vulnerable. All Blake needed to say was, "You know, if I ever got the opportunity to meet any survivors or people who related to the film on such a personal level, I would be so honored and so grateful that you would share your story with me."
That's literally all. Even if she did not want to speak with them, even if she would never run into them on the street because she doesn't want to walk around Manhattan without her security or whatever, all you needed to say was that. Instead, she made the sarcastic joke insinuating that, you know, normal people are not worth her time and shouldn't be in her circle.
Like, "Oh, you want me to give you my address? You can come and talk to me?" What? Like, why did he think that that was the correct way to respond to that question? I mean, and yeah, maybe that would have been a funny response in some other interview about a different film, maybe on Jimmy Fallon when you're promoting a comedy. But when you're promoting this film and this story and this message—like, read the room. It's not that hard.
Now, needless to say, that made even more people upset. One person on Twitter commented and said, "Is she just trying to make everyone not like her? She's been such a brat this entire press run. I don't get it." And not brat in the good way; she's not part of brat summer. This is the OG definition of brat, guys.
A girl replied and said, "I had zero issues with her before, and I'm also the first to admit that our society will always villainize famous women and exonerate men, but she has just been so beyond insufferable with this press tour, and everything new that I see just makes her look worse."
So, at this point, people have come to what is this now—a third consensus on why this fracture is happening. They made up their minds that this is all because of creative differences, which is what I personally believe. Producers Justin and Blake had very different ideas on how they should promote the film, and Blake went out because, you know, she and Ryan paid for the damn thing. So, obviously, they can do whatever they want; it's their movie.
So Justin respectfully decided to just promote it in his own way and stay in his lane. But then, guys, all the speculation was confirmed. I promise we're getting to the cracks of the issue here.
Now, apparently, Blake wasn't happy with Justin's cut of the film—the way that he and his editor had put it together. So she brought in the *Deadpool* *Wolverine* editor, comedic editor. Remember that? To do a pass on the film. And Pop Crave and Hollywood Reporter reported that.
Apparently, guys, both Justin and Blake felt very passionately about their cuts of the film, so they screened both versions for audiences, and Justin's one out—the non-comedic version of a domestic violence movie won out. Shocker! Imagine that. Blake could have saved you some time and money.
Now, I'm sure that only added to the tension. And then, guys, it came out during a red carpet interview that Blake had had Ryan Reynolds, her husband, come in and rewrite a few of the scenes, and the screenwriter had no idea. She learned that in real time at the premiere on the red carpet. I think that she had thought maybe the actors had just improvised on set, and that's why it was changed. But again, in real time, she learned that Ryan had rewritten some of her work at the request of Blake.
Now, in addition to all of this, it looks like Blake's PR camp has started to do some kind of damage control by trying to paint Justin in a bad light because obviously they're reading the comments; they know her public perception is just spiraling. So insiders have now come out to say that he made her uncomfortable about her weight and fat-shamed her on set and lingered too long in one of their onscreen kisses.
Like, come on, are we actually being serious here? Are we 12 years old? Listen to this: This is from TMZ. Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ there was a scene in which Justin lifts Blake into the air. According to our sources, Justin has a history of back problems, and before lifting Blake, he went to his on-set trainer and asked how much she weighed and how he could train to protect his back from injury.
And that was just so, uh, triggering to—like, that is not fat-shaming. People, have we fallen so far? The man has a back injury; he was trying to protect himself and protect her and make sure that he could do what the role required. That is why you have an on-set trainer; that is why you rehearse these things. That is not fat-phobic.
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Again, I'm not advocating for you to take Rough Greens as a human supplement, but you know, maybe Justin could have used it. It would have gotten him through this.
Now thankfully, people online agreed. They're going, "Okay, this is just absurd. Everybody is way too sensitive." And then the kiss, guys, that lingered on for too long? Give me a break!
Let's look at this BTS video where Blake stepped in to direct Justin. And obviously, we know from him that she stepped in to direct some of these scenes. She was directing him on how to grab her, embrace her, and kiss her.
Listen, all I'm saying is that direction came from Blake. And also, Blake, you funded the movie; you produced it; you directed most of it; you put yourself in it; you were literally running the show. All you needed to do was break the kiss. None of this is real; it's not real life. This man is not going to hurt you if you try to get away. You just go, "Okay, cut. Yeah, we're moving out. I don't really like this." That literally is all you have to do.
But instead, you're grasping at straws to paint yourself as the victim, and it's just not working. Nobody believes it. Just stop! Like, it's literally only making things worse.
She also posted something on her Instagram story yesterday to promote a domestic violence hotline, but by that point, it was way too late. Everybody already knew that that was just posted as crisis management. Like, girl, you should have been doing that weeks ago if you wanted to promote the film in that light.
And speaking of crisis management, Justin actually just hired a crisis management PR firm. That man, all I'm saying is making sure that he is coming out unscathed, as he should, because based on what we know, he has done literally nothing wrong.
Honestly, he has been handling this with so much class. He's showing up, he's participating, he's answering all of the right questions. He even dodged some uncomfortable questions by saying, "You know what? I think Blake should just direct the next one," and he said it with a smile on his face and moved on. That just spoke volumes. Like, media training is coming in clutch.
But guys, the point is, the point with all of this drama—even though you guys know I enjoy telling you these stories—the point is that all of this is just so ridiculous, and it is such a good reminder that no matter how likable and wonderful celebrities might seem, no matter how perfect and wholesome their marriages and their children and their families might seem—and Blake and Ryan certainly seem to have it all—they are not perfect, and nobody should idolize them.
We should not be idolizing celebrities in this way, and obviously, I don't think that they should be canceled. They're not villains here; I'm not advocating for that. I genuinely hope that they're able to make things right because I genuinely have always thought that, you know, in the Hollywood landscape, they are great normal role models for people.
But all of this just screams egotistical, out of touch, and opportunistic, and the way that they've handled this press tour has truly been illuminating.
Well guys, I hope you liked that video. Make sure that you like and subscribe to this channel if you have not already. And if you want even more content, you can follow me on Instagram and on Snapchat and on TikTok. See you guys next time. Bye!