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What Is the Blake Lively Controversy? 2016 Interview And ‘It Ends With Us’ Promo, Explained

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3 months ago

August 19, 2024

What Is the Blake Lively Controversy? 2016 Interview And ‘It Ends With Us’ Promo, Explained

Whereas “It Ends With Us” continues to hit on the field workplace in its opening week, controversy has been brewing amid the discharge of the film, an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel.

The e book itself confronted scrutiny for its method to home abuse, and the advertising and marketing of a film about such a delicate subject has added to the web discourse. Plus, rumors of a rift between its two lead actors has been thrown within the combine.

Blake Vigorous, the movie’s star who has established a degree of relatability since her early days in Hollywood on “Gossip Woman” and “The Sisterhood of the Touring Pants,” is now going through criticism from followers and viewers. What’s behind the drama? Right here’s what to know.

Vigorous’s rep has not returned TODAY.com’s request for remark Aug. 15.

Why has Blake Vigorous obtained backlash whereas selling ‘It Ends With Us’?

“It Ends With Us” is a narrative following Lily, a florist dwelling in Boston, who strikes up a romance with a neurosurgeon named Ryle that devolves into an abusive relationship. As an individual from Lily’s previous comes again into her life, she has to decide about pursuing a future with Ryle or selecting a special path.

Vigorous stars as Lily, and Ryle is performed by Justin Baldoni, who’s additionally the director of “It Ends With Us” and an govt producer. Vigorous is listed as a producer.

Main as much as the movie’s launch, followers have speculated a couple of potential rift between the co-stars based mostly on media appearances and solid promotion. (Vigorous has not spoken on her press tour about working with Baldoni, although Baldoni has praised Vigorous in interviews, together with on TODAY when he mentioned “every thing she touched, she made higher.”)

With that, followers have additionally dissected how every of the celebs have been advertising and marketing the movie.

Vigorous has been going through criticism from followers who say her method doesn’t match the heavy themes of the movie. They’ve additionally in contrast her method to that of Baldoni.

In a video from TikToker Meredith Mansfield with than 3 million views, Vigorous is critiqued for selling the movie “like a rom-com.” One other clip on X with over 3 million views exhibits Vigorous in a promo clip saying, “‘It Ends With Us’ is in theaters now, so seize your pals, put on your florals, and head out to see it.” The X person calls Vigorous’s message “tone deaf.”

After an Aug. 8 interview on Jake’s Takes, Vigorous confronted comparable criticism for her reply to a query about how individuals who relate to Lily’s story can method Vigorous. “Do you imply, like, asking for my handle, or my telephone quantity, or like my location share? I may simply location-share you!” she joked. She then referred to as movie “therapeutic” and mentioned she’d think about it a “blessing” if somebody got here as much as her and informed her the film meant one thing to them.

TikToker Ashley Paige, who says she’s a survivor of home violence, addressed Vigorous in a video posted Aug. 13 that now has over 3 million movies: “You could possibly’ve gone about this so in a different way, in such a respectful, tactful, mild, understanding, advocacy-bringing consciousness method.”

Others have additionally criticized Vigorous for launching her hair care line in tandem with the film’s launch.

Why is a Blake Vigorous interview from 2016 going viral?

On Aug. 10, Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa uploaded to YouTube an interview she had performed in 2016 with Vigorous and actor Parker Posey whereas they had been selling “Café Society.” The video is titled “The Blake Vigorous interview that made me wish to stop my job” and has gained 1.7 million views.

The clip begins with the journalist telling Vigorous, who was pregnant on the time, “Congrats in your little bump.” Vigorous then replies to Flaa, “Congrats in your little bump.”

When Flaa asks the actors about their wardrobes within the movie, Vigorous says to Parker, “Everybody desires to speak in regards to the garments, however I ponder if they’d ask the boys in regards to the garments?” Flaa replies, “I’d.” Vigorous continues to hold on the dialog together with her co-star in regards to the males’s clothes within the film. On the finish of the interview, Posey seems to roll her eyes at Flaa.

In her caption, Flaa provided the next reflection: “Is it not okay to congratulate somebody on their being pregnant or to ask one other girl about costumes she is sporting in a movie?”

This interview generated discourse within the feedback part, with some YouTube customers calling Vigorous’s conduct “impolite” and “passive aggressive.” The chatter carried over to different social media platforms, too. Whereas some folks criticized Vigorous for her responses, others defended Vigorous for being subjected to questions on her being pregnant and appearances.

Vigorous has not commented on the video. Flaa on Aug. 14 appeared on this system “Popcorned Planet” to share in regards to the interplay. She referred to as it a “very disturbing state of affairs.”

“I don’t know if (Vigorous) was offended,” Flaa mentioned. “I believe she didn’t wish to be there, and didn’t need me to be there, and she or he was in a foul temper. I don’t know if me congratulating her on her being pregnant made her in such a horrible temper, she felt she needed to punish me. I don’t know. Solely she is aware of. And Parker Posey. They teamed up. They really did that collectively and that’s what made it uncomfortable.” (TODAY.com has reached out to Posey for remark.)

As well as, Flaa mentioned she was not pregnant when Vigorous returned the remark, “Congrats in your little bump.”

Flaa didn’t point out why she uploaded the video now, however mentioned “there’s a purpose why I didn’t add it earlier than.”

“I used to be afraid of retaliations towards me, after all, as a result of I used to be sincere and I revealed one thing about an individual. Celebrities are sometimes placed on pedestals and if somebody tries to tear that down, there’s numerous energy and cash behind these folks.”

Has Blake Vigorous responded to the backlash?

Vigorous appeared to answer criticism on her Instagram story on Aug. 13. She shared a video of a BBC interview she had performed, overlaid with textual content that mentioned:

“Thanks to everybody who got here out to indicate that folks WANT to see movies about ladies, and the multitudes we maintain. It Ends With Us is a narrative of the feminine expertise. All the very best highs, and lowest lows. And we’re so pleased with it. We’ve been in celebration of this movie and of getting a message so essential on the market to the lots.”

A second submit to her story linked her followers to home violence assets with the message:

“1 in 4 ladies aged 18 and older within the US alone have been the sufferer of extreme bodily violence by an intimate companion of their lifetime. Intimate companion violence impacts all genders, together with greater than 12 million folks yearly in the USA.”

Vigorous’s rep has not returned TODAY.com’s request for remark.

What does a PR knowledgeable must say?

May Vigorous may face a PR disaster? It’s potential, and it may go away her “benched” on the sidelines, in line with disaster public relations skilled Molly McPherson.

Present public notion is that Vigorous’s technique whereas selling “It Ends With Us” has been “too self-serving,” says McPherson, who doesn’t have a PR relationship with Vigorous.

“Baldoni is sticking to the script. He’s protecting the main target of the movie’s message round home violence, across the core message, the theme of the movie. Blake Vigorous, however, has been accused of lacking that half, overlooking a vital theme,” McPherson explains.

Whereas the general public is fast to take sides and make assumptions about celebrities, McPherson says it’s “unfair” for Vigorous to be judged on the rumored “It Ends With Us” solid drama since no person has come out to publicly handle what occurred.

“What usually occurs when there’s smoke, folks begin searching for the hearth,” she says. “And the place they discover it’s on social media and content material like interviews, previous interactions, previous social media posts and so forth. And within the case of Blake Vigorous, she is now being judged on her actions which can be on the report that she put on the market herself.”