It Ends With Us star Brandon Sklenar reveals cruel online messages amid toxic Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni feud

by

The legal issues surrounding the book ‘It Ends With Us‘ have impacted more people than just Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

Brandon Sklenar, who starred as Atlas Corrigan in the film that sparked online controversy, said he received negative reactions after posting a message urging people to ‘be kind’ during the online backlash.

Thirty-five-year-old Sklenar shared a long post on Instagram and then disabled comments on it.

Now the actor is revealing the cruel messages he received after he uploaded the post.  

I wasn’t criticizing anyone, I just asked if we could concentrate on the overall message of the film and avoid being unnecessarily negative. I thought it was a reasonable comment, but it seems a lot of people disagreed.

‘”You’re a piece of s**t,” “I hope you die,” “I hope your career ends,” things like that,’ he said.

Sklenar’s representative, familiar with handling similar cases for other clients – including a well-known personality – told him to stay off the internet. However, he couldn’t resist checking what people were saying about him online.

Sklenar explained it like this: Imagine walking down a hallway and hearing a room packed with a hundred thousand people all talking about you. Wouldn’t you be curious and listen?

The legal issues began last year following the release of the movie It Ends With Us, featuring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

Blake Lively publicly accused director Brett Baldoni of sexual harassment and claimed he then tried to damage her reputation, allegations he refuted. Baldoni subsequently sued Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for defamation and attempted coercion, and also sued The New York Times, which initially published Lively’s accusations. However, a judge has since thrown out all of those lawsuits.

The legal battle remains ongoing, with a civil trial now scheduled for May 18, 2026.

In an August 2024 Instagram post, Sklenar asked fans to avoid criticizing the women featured in the film and instead concentrate on its overall message.

The lawsuit hadn’t started yet, but people were already talking about a possible conflict between Lively and Baldoni.

He explained that Colleen and the actresses in the show represent hope, resilience, and women taking charge to create better lives for themselves.

Attacking the women who dedicated themselves to this film and passionately believe in its message feels misguided and misses the entire point. It actually goes against everything the film stands for.

Regardless of any issues that may have occurred during production, we hope they don’t overshadow the positive intentions behind our film. We’re disappointed by the amount of negativity we’ve seen online.

The actor explained that a friend was going through a relationship like the one depicted for Lively’s character in the movie, and he felt it was important to share that story and its message with a wider audience.

He explained that she hadn’t known about the book before working on the film, and only read it after becoming involved. She believes both the book by Colleen and the film itself helped her through a difficult time and ultimately saved her life.

Everyone who worked on this film understood the importance of what we were doing. We felt a strong responsibility to represent the experiences of women who have dealt with inherited trauma, domestic violence, or self-acceptance issues.

He described the film as a wake-up call for men, urging them to be accountable for their behavior. He also stated its purpose was to motivate viewers, affirm their experiences, acknowledge their struggles, and offer a sense of optimism.

‘Ultimately it’s meant to spread love and awareness,’ Brandon continued in his message.

‘It is not meant to once again, make the woman the “bad guy,” let’s move beyond that together.

‘All I ask is that before you spread hate on the internet, ask yourself who its helping.

Think about whether your beliefs are rooted in facts, or if you just want to feel like you belong. Let’s work together to create something positive – a fresh chapter for everyone, especially women, around the world.

He then concluded the heartfelt post with: ‘Lead with love and please be kind.’

Sklenar turned off comments on the post not long after it was published.

Read More

2025-12-19 03:20