Australian victim-survivors of domestic abuse are being ‘triggered’ and ‘re-traumatised’ by Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s new film, according to one prominent activist.
The Gossip Girl alum, 36, has been embroiled in a firestorm of negative publicity and public outrage in response to her lighthearted and sarcastic promotion of the film in recent weeks.
Netizens are in an uproar about Blake’s joking response to a question posed by reporter Jake Hamilton during a virtual sit down with her co-star Brandon Sklenar.
When asked how she would respond to an affected viewer approaching her with their story, the actress was sprawled on a couch with her head leaning on her bent arm and replied sarcastically: ‘Maybe asking for, like, my address, or my phone number. Or, like, location share?! I could just location-share you and then we could…’
Laughing, she trailed off, as Sklenar sat silently and appeared as if he wished the couch would swallow him.
‘It was really weird,’ What Were You Wearing founder Sarah Williams exclusively told Daily Mail Australia.
The 23-year-old, who founded the not-for-profit behind Australia’s national No More Violence Against Women rallies, said Blake’s interview was problematic, but that she’s more concerned about the movie itself after having seen it.
‘Blake’s recent interview was very unprofessional and insensitive,’ Williams said.
Australian victim-survivors of domestic abuse are being ‘triggered’ and ‘re-traumatised’ by Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s new film, according to one prominent activist. Blake is pictured with co-star Brandon Sklenar
What Were You Wearing founder Sarah Williams (pictured) who founded the not-for-profit behind Australia’s national No More Violence Against Women rallies, said she’s concerned about the movie after having seen it
‘I think it shows how Hollywood often takes these issues as inspiration but doesn’t take them seriously.’
‘People are going to potentially want to share their stories or want to open up to her because she’s portrayed this character,’ she continued.
‘[Blake] could have answered that question in a more respectful manner and said something like: ‘I don’t want to open up the floodgates for millions of people, where I might not be able to respond’, and then urged them to go to a DV service.’
It Ends With Us premiered in Australian cinemas on August 8.
Since last week, Williams said What Were You Wearing has had multiple people seek their help after seeing the film adaption of Colleen Hoover’s novel starring the Age of Adaline actress.
‘Quite a few people have come forward, who went into the cinemas thinking it was a rom-com, but left extremely triggered and needing our support,’ Williams told Daily Mail on Friday.
‘There are no trigger or content warnings on the film. A Hollywood movie like that would have a big budget, and if they’d spent any of it on a trauma-informed advisory panel, I guarantee its first piece of advice would be to add a trigger warning.’
Lively is pictured portraying character Lily Bloom on the set of It Ends With Us alongside her co-star and director Justin Baldoni
The pair are rumoured to be feuding over the making and promotion of the film
Blake Lively is known for playing leading ladies in romantic dramas and has also come under fire for lightheartedly telling women to ‘wear their florals’ to the cinemas for the occasion.
‘The poster and the marketing is all geared towards florals and romance, so as a victim-survivor going into see that movie, you’re not in a prepared mindset to see something triggering,’ Williams said.
‘There’s nothing depicting DV in the marketing.’
‘Seeing an experience that you have lived through yourself can easily be re-traumatising. People have been telling me they weren’t prepared for it. That they weren’t mentally safe and ready to see that.’
The actress is receiving strong backlash against the ‘cutesy’ approach to marketing a film about domestic violence
Lively has come under fire for cross-promoting It Ends With Us with her cocktail brand and husband Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 2
Meanwhile, It Ends With Us director and actor Baldoni, has included a directive to a DV helpline on his social media
On one hand, the young activist said she’s happy that that It Ends With Us is getting people talking about a very important issue.
‘It’s great that we have a movie that is about domestic violence. It’s not often that we have movies depicting these types of relationships, and often, they’re bad,’ Williams said.
On the other: ‘I definitely think that’s it glamourises and romanticises domestic violence.’
While she wouldn’t go as far as to say the movie was ‘done badly’, Williams said the Hollywood ending presents a big problem.
It Ends With Us follows a woman named Lily Bloom, played by Blake, who becomes embroiled in an abusive relationship with a man named Ryle Kincaid, portrayed by Justin Baldoni.
Domestic violence victim-survivors like Williams are pointing out flaws with It Ends With Us, both in the movie itself, and in Blake’s promotion of it that could be confused for a romantic comedy
‘Spoiler, but when Lily leaves the abusive relationship, it all happens very safely and very perfectly,’ Williams said.
‘And that’s just not how it is in real life.’
The idea that ending an abusive relationship is as simple as just leaving is a harmful myth which the film perpetuates, Williams explained, because most people don’t want the relationship itself to end – they just want the violence to stop.
‘These factors mean that, on average, it takes seven attempts for a victim to leave a domestic violence situation,’ Williams said.
‘When a victim-survivor is escaping their abuser, that’s the time when they’re most likely to be murdered or seriously hurt.’
Roughly one woman dies of intimate partner violence in Australia every four days, per 2024 data. Sarah Williams founded What Were You Wearing to bring awareness to the issue
Four months into 2024, 33 women in Australia had been murdered, largely by a man they knew.
The data comes from Australia’s Femicide Watch, a site run by journalist and researcher Sherele Moody. The figures equate to roughly one woman every four days.
The Guardian detailed a new report by the Australian Institute of Criminology on April 30, which said the rate of women killed by an intimate partner in Australia increased by nearly 30 per cent in 2022-23 compared with the previous year.
The previous weekend (26 to 28 April), a media blitz backing Williams’ No More rallies saw more than one-hundred thousand Australians march across 17 locations chanting to end violence against women.
‘Lily (Blake’s character) is pretty much able to leave as soon as she decides to and everything’s fine,’ Williams said.
‘What annoyed me the most about the movie was this perfect ending,’ Williams said.
‘The reality is that after leaving DV situations, people go into homelessness. Or lose their jobs. Or can’t continue studying at university. They have issues with looking after their children and making sure that they’re safe. They have trouble rebuilding trust in new, healthy relationships.
‘The way the movie ends, with Lily living a safe, pretty, and happy life with a new guy and her child, gives off the idea that you can go through DV and escape perfectly.
‘My concern is for victim-survivors who may get the courage to leave a situation after seeing a film like this and then realise all the other aspects of their life which are impacted.’
However, there are a few things that Williams does think It Ends With Us got right.
‘It does show little things that people wouldn’t normally see or understand as being part of domestic violence,’ she said, referencing the emotional and coercive elements of the relationship.
‘So it’s providing education and opening people’s minds to understanding that DV doesn’t start and end with physical abuse.’
Blake and Justin have presented anything but a united front in the face of rising public outrage.
The director hired veteran PR crisis manager Melissa Nathan, who represented Johnny Depp during the Amber Heard trial on Tuesday.
‘Out of all the people you could hire, to pick Johnny Depp’s PR person raises some doubts for me,’ Williams said.
Facing increasing backlash, Blake Lively has begun sharing the helplines of domestic violence organisations in the last 24 hours
Meanwhile, Blake is back-tracking on refusing to address the film’s themes and has been sharing domestic violence helplines to her social media accounts in earnest over the last 24 hours.
As far as Williams and other domestic violence advocates are concerned: ‘They’re both in the wrong here,’ she said. ‘100 per cent’.
‘It shows how when you don’t have the same vision between all the people who are heavily involved in a project like this, just how easily things can go wrong and become really dangerous.’
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni for comment.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit their website. In an emergency, call 000.