Justin Baldoni Hires Crisis PR Manager amidIt Ends With UsCast Drama

Mar. 15, 2025

Justin Baldoni at the ‘It Ends With Us’ New York premiere.Photo:Gotham/WireImage

Gotham/WireImage

It Ends With Usdirector and actorJustin Baldonihas hired crisis public relations manager Melissa Nathan of The Agency Groupamid reports of drama with the cast, including his costarBlake Lively, a source familiar with the matter tells PEOPLE.

At theNew York premiereon Aug. 6, Baldoni posed with his wife Emily but apart from the rest of the cast, which includes Lively, Brandon Sklenar, Isabela Ferrer and Jenny Slate. Baldoni also did not join the cast in introducing the film at the screening and has been noticeably absent from other group promotional appearances, including the London premiere.

InIt Ends With Us, Baldoni and Livelyplay a couplewhose relationship becomes abusive in nature.

Actor/director Justin Baldoni attends the ‘It Ends With Us’ New York premiere on Aug. 6, 2024.Cindy Ord/Getty

Cindy Ord/Getty

Baldoni and Lively both have credits behind the camera, too.

Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, secured the rights to Hoover’s book in 2019, years before Lively’s casting was announced in January 2023, and is credited as an executive producer.

Lively, who has a producer credit, has praised her husbandRyan Reynoldsfor his creative contributions to the film.

Blake Lively attends the ‘It Ends With Us’ New York premiere on Aug. 6, 2024.Cindy Ord/Getty

At the New York premiere, Lively said that her husband wrote a pivotal rooftop scene between Lily and Ryle, her and Baldoni’s characters.

“The iconic rooftop scene, my husband actually wrote it. Nobody knows that but you now,” Lively toldE! Newson the red carpet. “We help each other,” she added. “He works on everything I do. I work on everything he does. So his wins, his celebrations are mine and mine are his. I mean, he’s all over this film.”

Speaking with PEOPLE, the film’s screenwriter, Christy Hall, noted thatthe specific scene was “probably the trickiest one to tackle"because it is “perfect in the novel.” She also said she wasn’t aware Reynolds had contributed to the dialogue used in the final version of the sequence, but noticed a few new additions.

“All is not what it seems,“a set source previously told PEOPLE. “There is much more to this story. The principal cast and [author] Colleen Hoover will have nothing to do with him.”

It Ends with Usis now in theaters.

source: people.com