Amid reports of a feud between It Ends With Us co-stars Blake Lively (pic) and Justin Baldoni, recent footage making the rounds has the internet comparing the actress to Mean Girls villain Regina George.
After receiving a friendship bracelet from a reporter while walking the red carpet at the film’s London premiere on Aug 8, the Gossip Girl alum has been called out for responding with what many perceived as a backhanded remark.
“Oh my gosh, thank you so much. That’s so sweet,” Lively said, accepting the pink and white bracelet, as seen in a TikTok posted this week by French entertainment site AlloCiné. “I’m gonna put it here ’cause it doesn’t go with my outfit, but I will wear it later.”
Many users pointed out that the gift did, in fact, go very well with Lively’s look — a silver gown with pink floral embellishments and a red feathered coat.
“The way it actually FITS her whole outfit,” read one comment with over 9,000 likes.
“Regina George vibes,” wrote another, seemingly referencing a famous scene from Mean Girls in which Regina compliments a girl’s skirt then turns to her friend and says, “That’s the ugliest effing skirt I’ve ever seen.”
“How were we fooled for so long?!” asked a third user in response to the clip.
Recent press interviews for It Ends With Us have also had the Internet reconsidering Lively’s public persona, particularly her “tone deaf” approach to discussing a film that deals heavily in domestic violence and abuse.
The strange press tour has continued to make headlines as Baldoni, also the film’s director, has often done press alone, while Lively has regularly posed for photos and given interviews with her co-stars.
A set insider told People this week that both the main cast and Colleen Hoover, the author of the book on which the movie is based, want “nothing to do with” Baldoni.
Among the issues, sources told TMZ that Lively felt fat-shamed by the “Five Feet Apart” filmmaker — who suffers back problems — after he reportedly asked a trainer about Lively’s weight and whether he could safely lift her during a certain scene.
However, production insiders on Wednesday told TMZ that much of the crew sides with Baldoni.
Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that the drama culminated in different cuts of the film, including one commissioned by Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds, leading many to believe they leveraged their celebrity to go above Baldoni.
On Wednesday, the outlet reported Lively showed her “preferred rough cut” to more than 2,000 people in June, when she attended Hoover’s Book Bonanza, from which Baldoni was absent.
Lively also revealed last week that Reynolds secretly penned a crucial scene — a fact that screenwriter Christy Hall said she was unaware of until just recently. – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service
