Shady Details That Have Come Out About Justin Baldoni

As the film adaptation of “It Ends with Us” headed into in theaters, the cast and crew were rocked by drama. For the most part, Blake Lively has taken the heat. However, some in the know have claimed that Justin Baldoni — Lively’s co-star and the film’s director — has been shady as well. From reported issues on set to hiring a crisis PR manager, there’s a lot to unpack.

On the off-chance that you’ve missed the scandal, Lively’s reputation has soured in the wake of her promos for “It Ends with Us.” Much of the criticism has revolved around Lively seeming to present the film as a fun rom-com, rather than a serious story depicting domestic violence. Baldoni, meanwhile, has been lauded by many of the same people criticizing Lively, thanks to taking a very different approach that centers the message of the film in his interviews.

Having said that, there’s more to this drama than Lively urging viewers to dress up in all floral everything and see the movie with their girl squads. For starters, Baldoni seems to be distancing himself from any possibility of directing a potential sequel. More damningly, though, rumors have also emerged that he wasn’t a dream to work with.

Not long after Justin Baldoni was pictured posing with … well, none of his co-workers (except his wife, Emily Baldoni, who is also in the movie), an insider shared one hunch as to why that may have been. Speaking to Page Six, an unnamed source claimed that Justin hadn’t exactly fostered the best working environment. Though the source didn’t go into detail, they hinted at Justin doing something that made Lively feel ill at ease about her body.

It didn’t take long for another insider to open up a bit more to TMZ as to what had happened. Apparently, ahead of filming a scene where he would need to lift Lively up, Justin reportedly enquired about her weight to the on-set trainer. Granted, the source did note that Baldoni was concerned about his back, as he’d hurt it in the past. However, asking others on set about her weight when she had just given birth to her fourth child with Ryan Reynolds just isn’t a great look. As such, it’s pretty understandable that when Lively got wind of it, she was not amused.

The source also told TMZ that Lively was unhappy with Justin kissing her for too long while filming a scene. The insider didn’t share anything further than that. That said, it does bear mentioning that Lively spoke extensively to DigitalSpy about having intimacy coordinators on set to ensure everyone felt safe.

Another thing that seems to have added to the drama behind the scenes of “It Ends with Us” is the fact that both Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively were very hands-on in the making of the movie. That’s great if everyone has similar ideas, but Baldoni himself hinted that wasn’t the case. 

Speaking to Elle UK, Baldoni explained of filmmaking in general, “There’s always friction that happens when you make a movie like this.” Granted, he felt the film was the better for it. However, an insider speaking to Us Weekly painted a very different picture. The source claimed that the co-stars (who were also producer and director, respectively) actually didn’t manage to overcome their creative differences. “There were two camps on the film — team Blake and Team Justin,” they said. “This creative struggle set the tone for the negative experience behind the scenes and grew into them not speaking anymore.” Yikes.

It’s worth noting that the same source also suggested that Lively intentionally went around Baldoni with some of her creative decisions, which upset him. However, that was refuted by other sources speaking to the outlet. Plus, Baldoni told Access Hollywood that there were many instances where he was happy for the women in production to take the lead. “From the very beginning this had to have a female point of view,” he said. Cue the confused math lady meme.

As Colleen Hoover fans will be well aware, “It Ends with Us” has a sequel book, “It Starts with Us.” As such, there’s been a ton of chatter about whether or not the second book will be adapted for the screen as well. Naturally, that also means Justin Baldoni has been asked about returning. However, he’s made it pretty clear that he wouldn’t be too keen on coming back, at least as both actor and director.

That’s not to say Baldoni didn’t have ideas for who could replace him, though. In a red carpet interview with Entertainment Tonight, he suggested that Blake Lively should direct the next one. “I think there are better people for that one. I think Blake Lively’s ready to direct, that’s what I think,” Baldoni said. In light of the comments that he and Lively sparred over creative decisions, that might just be seen as a sarcastic dig at the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” star.

That said, that could also be reading too much into it. After all, Baldoni did tell Elle UK that he was blown away by everything Lively brought to the film creatively, going so far as to gush, “She touched so many aspects of this production, and everything she touched she made better.” If anything, Baldoni seems to have a pretty glowing opinion of Lively. Feud, where?

The “It Ends with Us” drama certainly has a ton of ins and outs, and with both Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni refraining from addressing the situation head-on, it’s tough to tell what’s really going on. However, the constant chatter does seem to have gotten to Baldoni. Case in point: he’s hired a crisis PR manager. 

Per insiders speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Baldoni’s decision to hire Melissa Nathan probably has something to do with the claim made to TMZ that Lively had felt body-shamed by him — but even more likely because of the allegation that he had kissed Lively longer than he should have. No surprise, there. After all, it is a pretty strong claim that, if true, should be taken seriously. 

One upside to Baldoni onboarding a crisis comms manager is that we’re finally one step closer to finding out what’s really going on. Until then, between the bold claims made by unnamed insiders, the fact that Baldoni and Lively have yet to be seen promoting their film side-by-side, and the latter’s bizarre rom-com-esque marketing approach for the movie, the only thing we’re really sure about is that something isn’t adding up. That, in itself, is exceptionally shady.