For some time, Blake Lively has been the sweetheart of the internet for reasons that have little to do with her acting career. People seem to idolize the blonde beauty for her cutesy relationship with husband Ryan Reynolds, her bold fashion statements at red carpet events, and her close friendship with megastar Taylor Swift.

However, it seems that overnight, Lively has been subjected to the volatile whims of cancel culture. Search her name on Google, and you’ll find a slew of articles smearing the formerly adored actress.

What happened to turn someone with a “very large and very loyal fan following” into the latest Hollywood scandal?

Lauren Chen, Blaze media’s resident film critic, breaks down the sudden brouhaha swirling around Lively.

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“It seemed like overnight … public perception of Blake Lively had done a complete 180, so I kind of did a deep dive trying to understand exactly what had happened, and it turns out, it all has to do with her latest film” – “It Ends with Us,” which is based on the popular novel by Colleen Hoover, Lauren explains.

For those who don’t know, “It Ends with Us” is a contentious subject because it explores the themes of domestic violence and emotional abuse, so “regardless of Blake Lively's involvement, ‘It Ends With Us’ was going to be controversial.”

According to social media, as well as reports from multiple online sources, readers are “divided on how well Hoover’s ‘It Ends with Us’ handles the topic of domestic abuse.” Many feel that the story romanticizes abusive relationships, while others praise it as a tale of breaking toxic cycles (as the title suggests).

“This was going to be a tricky thing to navigate for the people involved with the film, period. And unfortunately for Blake Lively, it seems that the way she has been handling herself on the press tour for this film has convinced at least some people that no, she is not taking the issue of domestic abuse seriously,” says Lauren, adding that people have been comparing Lively’s statements about the film to co-star and director/producer of the film Justin Baldoni’s comments.

For example, in one interview, Baldoni said, “If a Lily Bloom in real life can sit in this theater and maybe make a different choice for herself than was made for her; maybe she sees herself on that screen and chooses something different for herself. That’s why I made the movie.”

Compare that statement to Lively’s answer when she was asked, “What’s your childhood dream?” at the New York City premiere of “It Ends with Us.”

“To wear Britney Spears’ Versace dress,” the actress replied coyly, gesturing to her vibrant vintage gown, which Spears indeed wore in 2002.

“There’s kind of a different vibe,” says Lauren, cringing.

This is just one of several examples of the stark contrast between Lively’s recent comments and those of Baldoni.

In one highly controversial video, Lively promotes the film by saying, “‘It Ends with Us’ is in theaters now, so grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see it.”

“A lot of people really took issue with that clip,” says Lauren, noting that critics accused Lively of “trying to get a Barbie movie thing going.”

“Women were wearing pink to go see the Barbie movie. She's saying ‘wear your florals and go see this movie,’ and it's like, this is a movie about domestic abuse,” Lauren sighs, sympathizing with Lively’s naysayers.

On top of “tone-deaf” marketing, Lively also chose to “[tie] in her own hair care line with the promotion of this film,” which resulted in even more backlash.

Overall, people are upset that “Blake's behavior during the press tour doesn't really resonate with the actual content of the film,” says Lauren.

However, that’s not where the scandal ends.

Rumor has it that Lively and Baldoni are also at odds – extreme odds.

According to an article from themarysue.com, “Lively, Sklenar, Jenny Slate, Isabela Ferrer, and Alex Neustaedter largely dominate this press. Meanwhile, Baldoni isn’t present or tagged in any of the posts, resulting in numerous comments questioning where he is.”

“So it seems like Baldoni has been doing his own solo press for the movie, while the other co-stars and cast have been doing joint events,” says Lauren, adding that “none of the co-stars or the author of the book itself, Colleen Hoover, follow Baldoni on social media.”

Blake Lively defenders, however, have speculated that the sudden online condemnation of Lively was sparked by Baldoni himself as revenge for being labeled difficult to work with.

“Some are suggesting Justin behaves so poorly on set that he actually alienated the rest of the cast, and all of this blowback against Blake Lively is actually something that he and his team orchestrated in order to divert negative attention away from himself,” Lauren explains.

While this is just hearsay right now, it does stand to reason when you consider the fact that Baldoni “actually [hired] the same crisis PR firm that previously represented Johnny Depp during the whole Amber Heard fiasco.”

“It is true that after Justin started working with this crisis management PR team that a bunch of Blake Lively's old controversies did start appearing in headlines again,” says Lauren, pointing to the actress’ former scandals, such as her and Reynolds’ wedding venue, which used to be a plantation, an old quote from Lively when she used the term “trannies,” and an interview from 2016 during which Lively was rude to a reporter.

Regardless of Baldoni’s involvement in the dredging up of the actress’ former controversies, one thing is clear: “Blake Lively is being canceled right now.”

To hear more about the scandal, watch the clip above.

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