Brandon Sklenar defends the women of "It Ends with Us"

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Brandon Sklenar defends the women of "It Ends with Us"

Writer: Heidi Hsia

Brandon Sklenar plays Atlas Corrigan in "It Ends With Us"

22 Aug - Brandon Sklenar has recently broken his silence over the controversies surrounding his new movie, "It Ends With Us" that have been rampant on social media.

On 20 August, the actor, who plays the role of Atlas Corrigan in the movie based on Colleen Hoover's book of the same name, addressed the controversy by saying that Colleen Hoover and the women of the cast stand for hope, perseverance and for women choosing a better life for themselves.

"Vilifying the women who put so much of their heart and soul into making this film because they believe so strongly in its message seems counterproductive and detracts from what this film is about. It is, in fact, the opposite of the point," he wrote.

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni play the roles as Lily Blossom Bloom and Ryle Kincaid

He continued, "What may or may not have happened behind the scenes does not and hopefully should not detract from what our intentions were in making this film. It's been disheartening to see the amount of negativity being projected online."

Sklenar stressed that everybody involved in the project are all aware of the responsibility in making the movie, which revolves around the topic of domestic violence.

"This film is meant to inspire. It's meant to validate and recognise... it's not meant to once again, make the women the bad guy. Let's move beyond that together," he added.

The actress is said to be butting heads with Justin Baldoni on the set of the movie

The controversy surrounding the movie sparked initially with a rumour saying that director and lead actor Justin Baldoni was butting heads with producer and lead actress Blake Lively regarding the direction of the movie, which resulted in the movie having two different cuts.

It then spiralled into another controversy in which Lively reportedly felt uncomfortable about Baldoni asking about her weight, as he had to train in order to lift her up in a scene due to his bad back.

The actress was later involved in a different type of issue altogether, when journalist Kjersti Flaa shared an old clip of Lively humiliating her during an interview for her 2016 movie, "Cafe Society" after the journalist congratulated her on her "little bump". She was pregnant with her third child at the time.

Blake Lively and Parker Posey were criticised for being rude to journalist Kjersti Flaa while promoting "Cafe Society"

TikTok had since gone rampant with criticisms against the actress, after many claimed that Lively had been promoting the movie as if it is a pure rom-com and not a story about domestic violence, causing some - who have never read the book - to be triggered by scenes of spousal abuse in the movie.