*Disclaimer: The following article includes discussions of domestic violence and abuse.*

“Grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see” the latest romantic comedy “It Ends with Us,” which features a woman’s journey through domestic violence and generational trauma. If there seems to be a genre switch from florals to domestic violence, don’t worry, there is. 

In 2022 after Booktok launched her books into fame, Colleen Hoover(CoHo) became the talk of the media for her past choices. As a result, CoHo comes with not only six out of ten bestsellers in 2022 but a string of controversies. Still, headlines launched the new movie based on her book “It Ends with Us,” starring director Justin Baldoni as Ryle Kincaid and producer Blake Lively as Lily Bloom, into success. 

“It Ends with Us” centers on Lily Blossom Bloom, a florist, and her relationship with neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid which results in a baby alongside emotional and physical abuse. Lily contrasts her relationship with her childhood, bruised from domestic violence. The story ends with Lily’s first steps to break the cycle of generational trauma, hence the motto of the movie: “We love. We break. We pick up the pieces.” 

However, the promotions say otherwise. With 32 million views and counting, Lively and CoHo uploaded their infamous launch for the movie on social media. Lively opens with the lines: “Grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see it.” Instead of Lily’s journey, her job as a florist seems to be the highlight of the movie. 

Lively’s one-liners continued to surface on the Internet for their tone-deaf nature. When asked what’s the best way for viewers who relate to Lily Bloom to talk to Lively about their stories, Lively said, “Maybe asking for, like, my address, or my phone number. Or, like, location share? I could just location-share you and then we could…” An inappropriate and snarky comment towards survivors and fans of the movie, to say the least, fans were quick to point out the “mean girl” attitude Lively possessed towards all the interview questions on domestic violence. 

Lively’s interviews face backlash as she misattributed parts of “It Ends with Us” to her husband instead of shedding light on the message of the film. In an interview with E!News at the New York City premiere, Lively said, “The iconic rooftop scene, my husband actually wrote it. Nobody knows that but you now.” 

However, the writers listed under the movie seem blindsided by the credit Reynolds took. In an interview with PEOPLE, the film’s screenwriter, Christy Hall said, “There were a couple of little things that I thought had been improvised. Like when he says, ‘Pretty please with a cherry on top,’ and she talks about the maraschino cherries. When I saw a cut, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s cute. That must have been a cute improvised thing.’ So if I’m being told that Ryan wrote that, then great, how wonderful.” 

Despite Hall’s comment the Internet quickly raised red flags. In essence, Reynolds edited some lines of the movie, Lively went ahead with the revised version without consulting them and told interviewers that Reynolds wrote the scene instead of accrediting the script to the screenwriters. 

Fittingly, Lively seems to put business first, as she killed three birds with one promotion: her new haircare line Blake Brown, her drink company Betty Buzz, and her husband Reynolds’ gin with an “It Ends with Us” themed party featuring the product. 

In her blatant attempt to piggyback on the eyes of the movie, Lively hosted the post-premiere party with aesthetic beverages from Betty Buzz. However, the World Health Organisation estimates that roughly 55% of domestic abuse perpetrators were drinking alcohol prior to assault. Lively actively promotes alcohol for a movie about domestic violence. 

On top of that, the signature cocktail of the party, cutely named “Ryle You Wait,” romanticizes Kincaid’s actions. After the movie premiere’s disaster-out quotes, the post-party put the nail in the coffin in the eyes of fans and critics of where Lively’s true intentions lie. 

Missteps and accidents happen in any Hollywood buzz but Lively made one too many for the crowd to still believe her “good intentions.” The controversy only takes away from the survivors’ voices and the movie’s actual message – hope.