What you need to know

From the moment Justin Baldoni announced in 2019 that he was adapting the bestseller It Ends With Us into a film, a frenzy ensued.

Few books in recent years have become as big a cultural phenomenon as Colleen Hoover's novel, which has sold 20 million copies and become an Internet sensation on TikTok with more than a billion tags on the app.

When Blake Lively, who shot to fame in the 2000s as Serena van der Woodsen in Gossip Girl, was cast as the lead character, fans became even more excited, describing her as the perfect choice to play Lily Bloom, a young woman who grew up witnessing domestic violence and found herself in the same position years later.

Lily, a Boston florist, navigates a complicated love triangle between her charming but abusive boyfriend Ryle Kincaid – played by Jane the Virgin's Justin Baldoni – and her compassionate first love, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar).

Released in early August, the film became a box office success, bringing in more than $350m (£280m) worldwide.

But despite the financial success, behind the scenes, not everything went so smoothly. Rumors of a feud between Baldoni and Lively started swirling even before the film was released.

Last week, Lively filed a legal complaint against her co-star, accusing him of sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign against hersomething Baldoni vehemently denies. Here's the story so far:

For a film about domestic violence, the casting for It Ends With Us probably wasn't what you'd expect. There were pink carpets, flowers galore and the promotion of Lively's new hair care brand and her husband's gin company.

Instead of red carpet advocacy, Lively emphasized fashion and flowers.

At the London premiere, the press were told to keep the questions “fun and lighthearted”, with one event organizer telling me to “avoid questions about domestic violence”.

One of her remarks, made at the New York premiere – “you are so much more than just a survivor or just a victim” – sparked a backlash on social media.

Domestic violence survivor Ashley Paige criticized Ms. Lively's language and told the BBC that her own trauma had “shaped my identity”.

Lively was also criticized for her comments in another cheesy promotional tour video, where she said: “Grab your friends, bring your flowers and go see it.”

Ms Page accused Lively of promoting the film as “the sequel to Barbie”.

Along with the stunt, which was described as “dumb,” people began to question why Lively and Baldoni weren't photographed together on the red carpet at the film's New York premiere on Aug. 6.

The two also didn't give interviews together during the cast, and at the London premiere, which Baldoni didn't attend, I was warned by Lively's team not to “ask any questions about Justin.”

Internet sleuths also noticed that cast members, including Lively and author Hoover, did not follow Baldoni on social media.

Neither Lively nor Baldoni addressed the feud rumors during the shoot, and the only mention of each other was Baldoni telling Today that his co-star was a “dynamic creative.”

“She had her hands in every part of this production and everything she touched made (it) better,” he said of the 37-year-old.

Although the film was a box office success, it received mixed reviews from critics, with some saying it romanticized domestic violence.

There was two-star review by Tim Robbie of The Telegraphwho called it a “sick drama” that “repackaged domestic violence as sleazy romance.”

He suggested that the film “combines abuse and glitzy big-city courtship with deeply questionable effects”.

The film has also sparked debate on TikTok, with some saying that the trailer doesn't make it clear that the story is about an abusive relationship and rather seems to tell a love story.

Based on this misconception, some people said they found the film traumatic because they didn't know it contained scenes of domestic violence.

During the filming of the film, Baldoni hired crisis manager Melissa Nathan, whose previous clients include Johnny Depp and Drake.

Shortly after the tour, Lively faced a barrage of criticism on social media related to her comments about that tour, as well as old interviews.

One of the resurfaced interviews was shared by Norwegian journalist Kjorsti Flaa, who posted a YouTube video of her 2016 interview with Lively. It was titled “The Blake Lively Interview That Made Me Want to Quit My Job.”

Actor Brandon Sklenar, who plays Atlas in the film, defended Lively, saying in an Instagram post that people have 'vilified' the women involved in the film online.

He said it was “disheartening to see the amount of negativity being projected” and that someone close to him, who had been through a relationship similar to Lily's, credited the film with “saving her life”.

Four months after the film premiered, Lively filed a legal complaint against Mr. Baldoni, in which she accused him of sexual harassment.

The complaint also names Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni's production company, which produced It Ends With Us, as a defendant.

The court filing accuses Mr Baldoni and Wayfarer chief executive Jamie Heath of “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behaviour”. Some other women in the cast and crew have also spoken out about their behavior, the document claims.

It is also alleged that Ms Lively, Mr Baldoni and others involved in the film's development attended a meeting in January to discuss the “hostile work environment” on set. Her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, attended the meeting with her, according to the complaint.

At the meeting, those in attendance agreed to a list of demands, including that Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath make “no more descriptions of their own genitalia,” requiring an intimacy coordinator on set the entire time Ms. Lively was in scenes with Mr. Baldoni and not “friends” of the producers and directors who are on set during scenes when Ms. Lively was naked.

The list of demands also alleges that Mr Baldoni asked Ms Lively's trainer how much she weighs and claims that Mr Baldoni and Mr Heath discussed their “porn addiction” with Ms Lively.

In the statement, Ms Lively also alleged that Mr Baldoni and his team attacked her public image after the meeting.

She accuses him of orchestrating a plan to “destroy” her reputation in the press and online, including hiring a crisis manager who led a “sophisticated, coordinated and well-financed revenge plan” against her and using a “digital army” to publish social media content that looks authentic.

“To guard against the risk of Ms. Lively ever revealing the truth about Mr. Baldoni, the Baldon-Wayfarer team created, planted, expanded, and amplified content designed to undermine Mr. Baldoni's credibility,” wrote the team of Mr. Ms. Lively on the docket.

In the statement, Ms Lively said it had caused “substantial harm” which had affected “all aspects” of her life.

Mr Baldoni's legal team told the BBC the allegations were “categorically false” and said they had hired a crisis manager because Ms Lively had threatened to scuttle the film unless her demands were met.

In response to the legal complaint, Mr. Baldoni's lawyer, Brian Friedman, said Saturday: “It is disgraceful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and patently false allegations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and her representatives. “

Mr. Friedman accused Ms. Lively of making numerous demands and threats, including “threatening to not show up on set, threatening not to promote the movie,” which would ultimately lead to “his ultimate death during release , if her demands are not met” .

Hollywood stars including America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel have publicly supported Lively after she filed her complaint.

Ferrera, Tamblyn and Bledel, who co-starred with Lively in the 2005 film. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants issued a joint statement on Instagram on Sunday saying they “stand with her.”

“During the filming of It Ends with Us, we saw her muster the courage to demand a safe workplace for herself and her colleagues on set, and we are horrified to read the evidence of a deliberate and vindictive effort that followed to discredit her voice,” they wrote they.

Colleen Hoover, the author of It All Ends With Us, also expressed her support, describing Ms Lively as “honest, kind, supportive and patient”.

Additional reporting by Grace Dean.