Nearly a year after Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s It Ends with Us legal battle began, Colleen Hoover is reflecting on the fallout from her bestselling novel’s adaptation.
In December 2024, Lively filed a complaint (followed by a lawsuit) alleging sexual harassment, retaliation, and other claims against Baldoni and members of his production and publicity teams.
Baldoni — who starred alongside Lively in addition to serving as director and producer — filed a lawsuit against The New York Times over its coverage of Lively’s initial complaint, alleging the paper played a role in a “defamation campaign” against him. He also sued Lively, her PR team, and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
Both of Baldoni’s lawsuits have since been dismissed by a judge, while Lively’s case against him is currently scheduled to go to trial in March 2026.
Its “Awful” Aftermath
Regardless of the outcome, it’s already been a challenging experience for Hoover, who spoke at length about the controversy for the first time with Elle.
“It feels like a circus,” Hoover said in an interview published on Nov. 20, adding that the headline-making saga “truly has impacted some of the actors’ careers in huge ways. And I just find it all around sad.”
For now, Hoover didn’t delve into her specific take on the legal back-and-forth. (After Lively’s initial December complaint, the author wrote on Instagram that she was “nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient,” and encouraged her to “Never change. Never wilt.”)
While Hoover said she could tell her “own story,” she doesn’t want to wade into negativity and “put someone else down.” As she explained, “I feel like it’s so big at this point that there’s nothing anyone can say to change whatever opinion people have of it, even though no one has the actual truth. Not even me.”
But on a personal level, Hoover said she’s hurt by how this moment has affected her mom, whose real-life experience with abuse informed It Ends with Us.
“The book was inspired by her story, and now it gives us PTSD to think about it,” she said. “I feel awful because I almost feel like she’s gone through more with the aftermath of this film, more pain than she went through with my dad, just seeing the ugliness of it.”
Hoover doesn’t recommend It Ends with Us to readers anymore. In fact, she said, “I’m almost embarrassed to say I wrote it.”
Inside, she clarified, “I’m still proud of it, but less publicly so. Maybe I need therapy, I don’t know.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, call 911 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or visit thehotline.org.
If you or someone you know is seeking help for mental health concerns, visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) website, or call 1-800-950-NAMI (6264). For confidential treatment referrals, visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) website, or call the National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). In an emergency, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988, or call 911.
