How Blake Lively keeps getting it wrong: Ryan Reynolds’ wife is criticised for glossing over domestic violence during press for It Ends With Us amid ‘rift’ with director – and its just the latest in a string of controversies for the star

She’s one of Hollywood’s leading ladies having starred in blockbusters since the early 2000s.

But Blake Lively’s stint of being perceived as unproblematic appears to be nearing an end, with the actress, 36, from Los Angeles, currently undergoing intense public scrutiny.

It comes after the release of her latest film, It Ends with Us, which 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.

But when the Gossip Girl alum, 36, sat down with fellow cast members Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer, as well as author Colleen to discuss the new flick, the light-hearted nature of their conversation did not settle well with viewers given the film’s themes of domestic violence.

It’s not the first time Blake has come under fire, with the actress having made a string of controversial decisions throughout her career. Here, FEMAIL reveals Blake’s past dramas, from getting married at a former plantation site to an insensitive Kate Middleton.

SHOCKS FANS WITH CONTROVERSIAL WEDDING VENUE 

In 2012, Blake and Ryan Reynolds became spouses in such secrecy that their marriage stunned Hollywood.

It was three months after saying ‘I Do’, that the happy couple revealed the first glimpse of their intimate ceremony in Charleston, South Carolina – to which just 35 guests were invited.

In the first look at the happy couple in Martha Stewart Weddings, there was a sole shot of them holding hands as Blake, then-25, showed off her couture Marchesa ballgown and Ryan, then-36, sported a Burberry suit.

But it wasn’t Blake’s dress or the intricate details of their wedding that spurred controversy, it was the location – Boone Hall Plantation.

It is one of America’s oldest working plantations. In the 19th century, it was owned by Henry and John Horlbeck, who were in the brick business, building many of the public spaces in downtown Charleston using bricks from the plantation.

Boone Hall Plantation also famously appeared in Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling’s 2004 movie, The Notebook.

The couple were subsequently criticised for glamorising a place where slaves once suffered and died.

In May 2020, eight years after the wedding, Ryan and Blake donated $200,000 to the NAACP. 

In addition to the donation, they issued a statement, which read in part, ‘We’re ashamed that in the past we’ve allowed ourselves to be uninformed about how deeply rooted systemic racism is.’ 

During the height of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in August 2020, Ryan revealed his regrets for the wedding venue in conversation with Fast Company.

The Deadpool actor called the choice of location ‘something we’ll always be deeply and unreservedly sorry for’.

He said: ‘It’s impossible to reconcile. What we saw at the time was a wedding venue on Pinterest. What we saw after was a place built upon devastating tragedy.’

‘Years ago, we got married again at home – but shame works in weird ways. A giant f***ing mistake like that can either cause you to shut down or it can reframe things and move you into action,’ continued the action star.

‘It doesn’t mean you won’t f*** up again. But repatterning and challenging lifelong social conditioning is a job that doesn’t end.’

By 1850, Boone Hall was producing four million bricks per year using 85 slaves. Since the 1950s it has been owned by the McRae family, who opened the 738-acre estate up to public tours in 1956.

12 feet by 30 feet slave cabins still remain on the property, and today house information about the slaves who lived there.

The cabins were in use well into the 20th century, as they were occupied by sharecroppers through the 1940s.

KATE MIDDLETON ‘PHOTOSHOP’ JIBE 

Blake piled on Kate Middleton’s photoshop gaffe in an Instagram post promoting her new line of drinks posting a heavily edited picture.

Starting in January, Kate was scrutinised more than usual when palace officials announced that she was hospitalised for abdominal surgery. They said she would not appear for public engagements until Easter.

Her decision to keep details private fuelled a social media frenzy. The release of a photo to mark Mother’s Day was later withdrawn by news agencies across the world after it was deemed to have been too heavily edited.

However, Blake quickly found a way to market her drinks brand on Instagram using the photo editing scandal. 

Lively, known for her close friendship to Taylor Swift, wrote in the caption: ‘I’m so excited to share this new photo I just took today to announce our 4 new @bettybuzz & @bettybooze products! Now you know why I’ve been MIA.’

The Town star sat beside a warped swimming pool in a warped chair, her hands are belonging to someone else, a lemon is in midair and other drink cans sit oddly on the table.

‘It’s not nice to bully someone when they are already low, shame on you,’ one person wrote.

‘So disappointed. Imagine if this was you, recovering from surgery at home and people mocking you,’ said another Lively fan.

‘Oh, bullying another woman! Especially a mother who is recovering from a major surgery…Very classy act from you… Think about what your BFF sings about Karma…,’ wrote another while referencing her friendship with Taylor Swift.

In the wake of Middleton’s announcement of her health crisis, Lively wrote on Instagram: ‘I’m sure no-one cares today but I feel I have to acknowledge this.

‘I made a silly post around the ‘photoshop fails’ frenzy and, oh, man, that post has me mortified today.’

Lively’s original post has since been taken down. 

BLASTED OVER ‘TONE DEAF’ IT ENDS WITH US PROMO

Blake finally addressed the domestic violence in her new film It Ends With Us this week  – after fans slammed her ‘tone deaf’ and ‘shallow’ promotion of the drama.

Adapted from the popular Colleen Hoover novel of the same name, the production follows Lily Bloom (Lively) as she finds herself in an abusive relationship with neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni).

Despite the film’s serious theme, the promotional tour sold an entirely different story — as it focused largely on It Ends With Us’ flowery, romantic elements as well as Lively’s creative involvement.

Lively appeared to acknowledge the criticism Tuesday by publishing a statement to her Instagram Story along with a violence against women PSA.

‘Thank you to everyone who came out to show that people WANT to see films about women and the multitudes we hold. It Ends With Us is a story of the female experience. All the highest highs, and lowest lows. And we are so proud of it,’ penned the Gossip Girl alum.

She continued: ‘We have been in celebration of this film and of getting a message so important out there to the masses.

‘Thank you all for embracing @itendswithusmovie with the same love, pain and joy we had sharing it with you all.’

Lively wrote her message overtop an interview clip from the London premiere of It Ends With Us, where she described her character as a ‘survivor’ whose life isn’t ‘defined’ by the harm that was done to her.

‘This move covers domestic violence but what’s important about this film is that she is not just a survivor and she’s not just a victim,’ she told BBC News on Friday. ‘And while those are huge things to be, they’re not her identity. 

‘She defines herself and I think that’s deeply empowering to remind people that no one else can define you. No experience can define you, you define you,’ Lively explained.

In a follow-up post on her Instagram Story Tuesday, Lively shared statistics relating to domestic violence in the United States and provided fans with a link to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

‘1 in 4 women aged 18 and older in the US alone have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime,’ her statement began.

‘Intimate partner violence affects all genders, including more than 12 million people every year in the United States. Everyone deserves relationships free from domestic violence.

‘The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides confidential support 24/7/365,’ wrote Lively, who then linked access to the hotline.

She also encouraged those who need ‘immediate help’ to ‘text ‘START’ to 88788.’

It Ends With Us hit theatres last Friday — competing with Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds’ superhero flick Deadpool & Wolverine at the box office — after weeks of global promo.

But Lively has been facing flack for her light-hearted interviews about the film despite its serious message.

She was blasted as ‘shallow’ and ‘tone deaf’ for her part in a recent chat with co-stars Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer and It Ends With Us author Hoover.

The four women giggled together as they discussed everything from their dream jobs to their zodiac signs, but there was no mention of domestic violence during their chat.

And social media users were quick to slam them – particularly Blake, who hosted the interview – for partaking in the breezy questionnaire given the serious nature of the film.

Blake kicked off the interview by asking her costars what their professions would be if they hadn’t chosen acting or, in Colleen’s case, writing.

Colleen said she’d want to be a chef while Isabela explained that she’d be ‘riding horses all the time.’

Jenny then revealed that she was terrified of horses, explaining that their hooves and ‘butts’ made her uncomfortable.

Everyone erupted in laughter as she added, ‘Their butts are shiny, it kills me. Ponytail out of the butt, it’s crazy.’

After that, Blake asked each of them to share their zodiac signs so they could figure out ‘how compatible they are’ with one another.

Next, she asked, ‘What would be a good addition to the human body?’ ‘I would like another arm. Three hands working the keyboard? Wow,’ Colleen answered, while Jenna pondered that she’d love some wings.

‘We didn’t talk about our movie at all. Thanks for joining us,’ Blake concluded. ‘I think that will sell the film,’ Jenny added with a laugh.

Blake shared a video of the interview to her Instagram account last week, which she captioned with, ‘Becoming friends with [Jenny Slate] and all of these women [Colleen Hoover and Isabela Ferrer] is the best thing to come out of [It Ends With Us] for me.

‘And that’s saying A LOT because I couldn’t be more proud of this film. I’m gonna be sad when marketing is over and I don’t have excuses to sit on my couch dressed up with you ladies.’

Immediately, outraged viewers flocked to the comment section to criticize them.

‘I’m very confused. You missed the entire purpose of the movie. I’m sad and disappointed,’ one person wrote. ‘This is a movie about abuse, can you promote please appropriately?’ another asked.

Someone else added, ‘Blake is only here for the fashion and that’s all. She ain’t interested in the message this movie brings. Shallow.’

‘As someone who has read the book, as someone who liked Blake, and as a DV survivor… to say that this is so disappointing would be an understatement,’ a fourth comment read.

A fifth said, ‘This is the most tone deaf thing I’ve ever seen. This movie is about domestic violence, why are you promoting it like it’s a Barbie movie?’

‘When are you gonna talk about domestic violence? Trying to play this movie off as a fun romcom is wrong and disgusting,’ a different user scathed.

‘We don’t wanna hear about shows and your new hair care routine we wanna hear about the victims and how prevalent domestic violence remains in society. You have been given a platform, use it.’

‘The way you’ve chosen to market this movie is a real shame and feels like an insult to DV survivors,’ someone else said. ‘Really disappointed and hard to believe the author would support it.’

‘Very disappointed in the way you are promoting this movie. I loved you as an actress but won’t be watching any of your movies anymore,’ another person declared.

‘You are being tone deaf about domestic violence. This could of been a huge opportunity to bring awareness to DV and you choose to blatantly ignore it.’

‘As a well meaning fan: this Girl Talk session reinforced multiple stereotypes about women, and doesn’t address the single most important theme in your film: domestic abuse,’ a different angry viewer wrote.

‘You can use this moment for a felonies reckoning, to make some difference in countless lives, to encourage and support women to speak up.

‘But you’re focusing on flowers and hair-care and outfits. Women are more than this, we deserved better from you.’

Others said they were ‘team Justin,’ referencing an alleged feud between Blake and the actor.

‘RIFT’ WITH IT ENDS WITH US DIRECTOR

Rumours of tensions brewing between Justin, 40 – who on top of starring in it also directed and served as one of the producers for It Ends With Us – and the blonde beauty have been swirling for weeks after fans noticed the two failed to do any press together leading up to the film’s release.

In addition, the on-screen love interests were not pictured together at the US premiere last week.

Eagle-eyed social media users also noticed that both Blake and author Colleen unfollowed Justin on Instagram recently.

To make matters more suspicious, actress Jenny completely dodged a question about Justin on the red carpet at the event.

‘What was it like having [Justin] be director but also a scene partner?’ a Deadline reporter asked the star.

‘I mean what an intense job to have to do so many things,’ she replied. ‘I found myself being like, ‘Wow, I just want to have one job at once.’

‘I’ve often felt that way, I really like writing and it’s special to be able to be a writer but I was looking around like, ‘Yeah I’m good with just acting.’ I love it.’

A source told DailyMail.com recently that Blake and Justin clashed over his ‘dismissive’ attitude to her ‘input’ while they were filming scenes that involved abuse.

The insider claimed that Justin only focused on ‘what he believed was the abusive male viewpoint’ and had a very ‘chauvinistic’ approach to the topic.

‘During scenes depicting abuse, Justin failed to consider Blake’s character’s perspective, instead focusing solely on what he believed was the abusive male viewpoint,’ they said.

‘His approach was very chauvinistic, creating a tense atmosphere on set.’

‘Directing a film so serious and so important about domestic abuse without allowing the women to be included in this process is disturbing.’

While making the movie, Justin teamed up with nonprofit organization No More, which ‘focuses on combating domestic and sexual violence.’

‘Justin really wanted to know more of the details about intimate partner violence and wanted to make sure that he was representing it as accurately and sensitively as possible,’ a No More executive told The Wrap.

‘We didn’t want [the scenes depicting abuse] to be too difficult necessarily for an audience to see, but we also wanted them to be clear of what was going on.’

He spoke about the difficulties of portraying a domestic violence relationship on screen with CBS Mornings last week.

He admitted that ‘as a man,’ he came with ‘his own biases’ on the topic, but insisted he ‘made sure the film had a female gaze.’

‘As a man, I’m always going to come with my own biases. It’s one of the reasons I was afraid to direct this movie, let alone act in it,’ he said.

‘I wanted to make sure this film always had a female gaze and I was never putting myself into it.’

Justin has now reportedly hired a crisis public relations firm to represent him following reports of major ‘creative differences’ and conflict between him and his It Ends With Us co-star.

The director is turning to the well-regarded PR crisis manager Melissa Nathan for help, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Nathan is best known for representing Johnny Depp during his defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard.

The actor addressed the on-set ‘friction’ between himself and Lively in an interview with ELLE UK on Tuesday.

He described how tension during production can lead to ‘beautiful art’ as he promoted the new movie.

The Jane The Virgin actor opened up about the challenges of the dual roles when he described how strain can benefit a film. 

‘It’s very challenging to act and direct, and especially with a project like this,’ he explained. ‘There was a lot of pressure playing such a complex role like Ryle and, of course, as a filmmaker, you’re always navigating personalities. 

‘There are all these things that happen every day on set, there’s always friction that happens when you make a movie like this. Then at the end of the day, it’s that friction, I believe, that creates the beautiful art.  

‘Everything in life needs friction to grow. And look, we created something so beautiful and so magical, and it was hard, and it was worth it at the same time. And I grew so much as both a filmmaker, an actor and as a person throughout this experience.’ 

Baldoni did speak positively about Lively, calling her a ‘creative powerhouse’ and comparing her acting prowess to elite sports car Ferrari.

People reported claims on Monday that the core cast and author Hoover ‘will have nothing to do with’ Baldoni.

‘There is much more to this story,’ a source told the outlet. ‘The principal cast and Colleen Hoover will have nothing to do with him.’

While the director had ‘creative differences’ with some of his collaborators on the motion picture, reports of tension while making the film had been ‘overblown,’ a source close to Baldoni told People.

The source added that Lively ‘wants to direct the next movie, side-lining him and securing the rights from Colleen.’

REPORTER REVEALS ‘UNCOMFORTABLE’ INTERVIEW 

A reporter has claimed interviewing Blake Lively made her want to ‘quit her job’ amid the ongoing It Ends With Us drama, branding their chat as the ‘most uncomfortable situation she had ever experienced.’

Blake has been embroiled in controversy recently as rumors of an ongoing feud between her and her costar, Justin Baldoni, continue to make headlines.

Amid the drama, award-winning journalist Kjersti Flaa has slammed the Gossip Girl alum, saying she considered leaving the industry after an interview with Blake in 2016 went awry.

She uploaded a clip of the awkward encounter to her YouTube channel titled: ‘The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job.’

Blake and fellow actress Parker Posey had sat down with Kjersti, 51, who is originally from Norway but now lives in California, back in 2016 to discuss their film Cafe Society.

But when Kjersti congratulated the actress, who was expecting her second child with husband Ryan Reynolds at the time, on her pregnancy, things immediately turned tense. Blake seemed completely unamused with the comment, and replied with a sarcastic quip.

‘First of all, congrats on your little bump,’ Kjersti, who is the founder of Content Now TV, gushed.

‘Congrats on your little bump,’ Blake fired back, as the interviewer giggled nervously.

‘What about my bump?’ Parker joined in, standing up to show her butt to the camera.

Kjersti, who appeared thrown off by Blake’s response, then sat their awkwardly as the two ladies joked about their various ‘bumps’ together.

And things only got worse when Kjersti asked the women her first question.

Since the movie took place in the 1930s, Kjersti wondered if they enjoyed wearing old-school clothes in the movie.

But Blake didn’t like the query, and as Parker started to answer, she interjected, ‘Everyone wants to talk about the clothes but I wonder if they would ask the men about the clothes.’

‘I would,’ Kjersti promised. 

Again, the ladies started talking to one another rather than to Kjersti, as they discussed some of their favorite outfits worn by men in the movie.

The uncomfortable interview went on for another few minutes, before a defeated Kjersti wrapped it up.

‘Sitting down with Blake Lively and her co star Parker Posey for Cafe Society is the most uncomfortable interview situation I have ever experienced,’ she wrote in the caption.

‘Is it not OK to congratulate someone on their pregnancy or to ask another woman about costumes she is wearing in a film?’

The resurfaced interview quickly went viral, and it sparked fierce backlash against Blake.

People flocked to the comment section to slam her, with one person branding the star as ‘rude’ and another calling her behavior ‘weird and uncalled for.’ 

‘She and her husband talk about their kids all the time and you can’t congratulate her on her pregnancy?’ one person wrote.

‘That was such weird and uncalled for behavior, I’m sorry you had to sit through that. You kept your composure so well.’

‘The way she replied, ‘Congrats on your little bump.’ Yikes how rude,’ someone else agreed.

Another user added, ‘What in the f**k was this? Yeah don’t quit your job, but they should definitely quit theirs if they get triggered that badly by questions they don’t like. Ridiculous behavior.’

‘Wow, this is disappointing to watch. I’m very turned off by Blake and Parker’s behavior,’ a fourth comment read.

‘It lacked tact and both, but more so Blake, were just extremely rude and lacked any class here.

‘Shame on her. You did excellent keeping it together. The only true lady in that room.’

‘Asking about wardrobe for a period piece movie is a normal question. I’m so sorry they treated you this way,’ a fifth said.