If you grew up as a teenage girl in the 2000s there is a good chance you know who Blake Lively is. Serena van der Woodsen in “Gossip Girl,” Bridget Vreeland in “The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants,” or Nancy Adams in “The Shallows,” she was a household name. Recently, her newest film, “It Ends With Us,” has had a lot of controversy surrounding it. “It Ends With Us,” originally a book written by Colleen Hoover, has been made into a film about domestic violence, strength and love.

The film follows Lily Bloom, played by Lively, who falls in love with a physically and emotionally abusive man named Ryle. Some of the scenes contain graphic content from assault to deeply vulnerable conversations. The film does a good job at describing the shock, fear and overall feelings surrounding being a survivor of abuse. There is a love and friendship theme to some of the aspects of the film, as mostly all films are multifaceted. However, in the press tour featuring Lively and Justin Baldoni, the two of them have reacted differently in their separate interviews. Baldoni, when questioned about the abuse displayed in the movie, has been extremely sympathetic towards survivors of domestic abuse, and has been providing resources on his platforms.

Lively, however, has released a hair care brand, promoting the movie with the line “bring your girlfriends and wear your florals.” When asked about the survivors and what advice she has for them she stated how women are more than what has happened to them, they are not just someone who has endured abuse, there is more to them. She has also been very avoidant with interviewers, making it awkward to answer about how she would approach fans who came up to her asking about the movie and sharing their experience. 

Of course Lively, being the star of a film about domestic violence, is not the spokesperson for how to handle that kind of situation. Technically, Lively is in no position to give therapeutic advice. However, she has been making the promotion for the movie about her clothing choices, her hair, her husband’s (Ryan Reynolds) new movie, and even about her phone calls with her mom.

Lively very clearly makes her co-stars uncomfortable by fitting into the pick-me girl stereotype. Controversy around the quality of the film has erupted with things like costume choices and scene altercations, but pictures of Lively and Baldoni fighting has also been spread around the internet. Many fans have speculated that Lively took the role to become popular and important again. As a former super-fan of Lively, this behavior shocked me. Weeks after the speculation about her character started spreading on social media, Lively posted an Instagram story giving out domestic abuse hotlines and resources. It is fair to assume that was encouraged by her publicist. 

It is safe to say that Lively will continue to be under fire for her irrelevant remarks while doing press for the movie and her interesting attitude towards a deeply personal and important matter.