In reactivating her Instagram account, romance novelist Colleen Hoover has scrubbed posts that contain images of both Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni from when they were promoting last year’s film adaptation of her 2016 best-selling book “It Ends With Us.”
But Hoover’s decision to scrub Lively from her social media has definitely caught people’s attention much more than distancing herself from Baldoni. In fact, the scrubbing of Lively is being interpreted as yet another sign that public opinion has turned against the “Gossip Girl” star amid her explosive legal drama with Baldoni.
But some of Hoover’s fans say the author needs to do more than just delete Lively’s photos. She needs to admit her “mistakes” and publicly apologize to Baldoni for appearing to initially take Lively’s side in the controversy.
“Oh Colleen,” one person wrote on Hoover’s Instagram. “You don’t deserve the privilege of the job and platform you have — you have massively abused your position to contribute towards (the) disgraceful and bullying treatment of JB. Your silence is deafening. The fact you haven’t apologized to JB yet is astounding. Admit your mistakes. People will respect you more if you do.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 06: Colleen Hoover attends the “It Ends With Us” New York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on August 06, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
In December, Hoover showed her support for Lively after the “Gossip Girl” filed a legal complaint and alleged in a New York Times story that Baldoni, her director and co-star, subjected her to sexually inappropriate behavior while they were making the movie, then orchestrated a media and digital “smear campaign” against her during the film’s press tour.
After the New York Times story went viral, with Baldoni’s reputation suffering a serious hit, Hoover went on Instagram Story to describe Lively as “nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met,” People magazine reported. Sharing a photo of her and Lively hugging at the film’s screening, Hoover also wrote, “Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.”
At the time, Hoover didn’t directly comment on Lively’s allegations, The Hollywood Reporter said. In the movie, Lively plays Hoover’s female protagonist Lily Bloom, a florist who falls in love with a handsome neurosurgeon who becomes abusive after they marry.
Lively and Baldoni’s off-screen drama intensified after Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni on Dec. 31. He’s vehemently denied her sexual harassment and smear campaign allegations. He first hit back by suing the New York Times for defamation, then by filing a $400 million lawsuit against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds on Jan. 16, alleging defamation and extortion.
Baldoni specifically accused Lively of working with her publicists to destroy his reputation after, he says, she and Reynolds maneuvered to take control over the writing and final edit of his movie. Not only was Baldoni the film’s director, writer and producer, he also developed the project after approaching Hoover several years earlier to secure the film rights to her book.
Baldoni’s counter-offensive against Lively has been pretty aggressive, thanks to his celebrity attorney, Bryan Freedman, who said they would be “releasing all of the evidence” to show “a pattern of bullying and threats to take over” the film. Freedman’s legal filings have contained lengthy text-message exchanges between Lively and Baldoni and other documents that observers say could undermine her allegations that Baldoni made her uncomfortable during the production or that he and his publicists conspired to tarnish her reputation.
FILE – Justin Baldoni attends the world premiere of “It Ends with Us” at AMC Lincoln Square on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
During TMZ’s legal podcast last week, TMZ founder Harvey Levin and famed attorney Mark Geragos agreed that Freedman had helped turned the tide of public opinion in favor of Baldoni since the New York Times story was published. They said it appears that Baldoni is winning the PR game, which is why he would be motivated to take a settlement offer from Lively.
The Hollywood Reporter said that Hoover’s reactivated Instagram feed still has plenty of posts about her book, “It Ends With Us,” and the film in general. Hoover also still appears to still be following Lively, but not Baldoni.
One of Hoover’s posts promotes the “It Ends With Us” sequel, “It Starts With Us.” With Baldoni fans apparently emboldened by his his attorney’s tactics, they also appear eager to express their disappointment in Hoover’s initial decision to support Lively.
“Do the right thing and apologize to Justin. I’m done buying your books,” one person said. “Without an apology to JB you will never get past this,” said another.
“Feeling a bit stressed lately by all the negative attention?” someone else said. “Now imagine if you were falsely accused of sexual harassment, after being blackmailed and extorted to give up something you worked on with all your heart for years. Yeah. Maybe admitting you were wrong is the least you could do.”
