After deactivating her Instagram account amid the legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, Colleen Hoover officially made her return to the social media platform on February 12 — and her content looks a bit different. The New York Times Bestseller, whose book It Ends With Us was adapted into the blockbuster hit, has scrubbed her account of any trace of Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.
It Ends With Us starred Lively as Lily Bloom and Baldoni as her boyfriend, Ryle Kincaid, and detailed their abusive relationship. Based on Hoover’s 2016 novel, It Ends With Us became a smash hit when it was released in theaters in August 2024.
Lively and Baldoni starred opposite in Hoover’s film adaptation, with Baldoni signed on as the director, but have since accused each other (multiple times) of harassment and smear campaigns. As their legal battle continued to make headlines, the rest of the cast, as well as Hoover, remained quiet on the subject.
So, it wasn’t much of a surprise when Hoover’s Instagram went dark on January 22 as she tried to keep herself out of the legal battle and the fans’ theories of whose side she was on. But the author has officially made her return to the app, with the major change of removing any and all It Ends With Us promotional content that included either Lively or Baldoni. The cast had been promoting the film for most of the 2024 summer season, appearing at multiple events, from many of which Baldoni was missing.
The only post that mentions the promotional tour is from back in July 2023, which is from The Hollywood Reporter revealing the film’s release date.
All about the Lively-Baldoni feud
Rumors began to swirl surrounding a feud between the co-stars, though nothing was truly confirmed until Lively publicly accused Baldoni of sexual harassment late last year by filing a formal complaint. She later alleged that Baldoni was taking part in a smear campaign in order to “bury” her.
Baldoni fired back, claiming Lively flipped the script during filming, creating her own cut of the film and using her status as an A-lister, along with her husband Ryan Reynolds, to intimidate him.
Hoover previously showed support for Lively, writing in a post, “@blakelively, you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met. Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.” However, Hoover has since deleted all Lively and Baldoni content, so where she stands on the matter is a mystery.
Lively and Baldoni have gone back and forth, firing shots at one another, including Baldoni’s mass release of their entire text chain and multiple behind-the-scenes videos to show everyone what happened between them. The director and actor even launched a website, which was filled with evidence backing his claims. A court date for the two stars has been set for March 2026.
