Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 1119 | Is Blake Lively a Mean Girl? Justin Baldoni Drama Explained (Part One)

Episode Date: January 8, 2025

Our hearts go out to those in the Pacific Palisades who are suffering from the wildfire there, and our prayers are with the victims, their families, and the firefighters combatting the fire. Today, we're talking about all the juicy drama between actress Blake Lively and director Justin Baldoni surrounding the production of "It Ends with Us." We get into the timeline of Blake Lively's allegations of sexual harassment as well as Justin Baldoni's PR team purportedly orchestrating a smear campaign against her. Of course, the odd, almost tone-deaf marketing strategy Lively seemed to employ likely didn't help matters. Strap in for this one, it's a wild ride! Buy Allie's new book, "Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion": https://a.co/d/4COtBxy --- Timecodes: (02:05) Palisades wildfire (18:35) Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni “It Ends With Us” drama (23:53) Background and timeline (29:06) Blake Lively’s odd marketing ---   Today's Sponsors: Seven Weeks - Experience the best coffee while supporting the pro-life movement with Seven Weeks Coffee; use code ALLIE at https://www.sevenweekscoffee.com to save up to 25% and help save lives. Cozy Earth - Go to COZYEARTH.COM/RELATABLE and use code “RELATABLE” for up to 40% off! Good Ranchers — Go to GoodRanchers.com and use code ALLIE at checkout to claim $25 off, free express shipping, and your choice of FREE ground beef, chicken, or salmon in every order for an entire year NetSuite — Gain visibility and control of your financials, planning, budgeting, and inventory so you can manage risk, get reliable forecasts, and improve margins. Go to NetSuite.com/ALLIE to get the CFO's guide to AI and Machine Learning. --- Related Episodes: Ep 1054 | “It Ends With Us” Is Emotional Porn for Women https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-1054-it-ends-with-us-is-emotional-porn-for-women/id1359249098?i=1000666041941 ---   Buy Allie's book, You're Not Enough (& That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love: https://alliebethstuckey.com/book Relatable merchandise – use promo code 'ALLIE10' for a discount: https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey

California wildfires are ripping through the southern part of the state. I will give you an update on that. And what is at least partly causing this terrible devastation? Also, today is part one of a very intricate deep dive into the conflict between actors, Justin Baldoni and Blake lively. There is so much there. A lot of lessons actually, I think that we can draw from this. but we are going into all of the details of their various lawsuits. And tomorrow will be a very important part two. This episode is brought to you by our friends at Life or DeathCon. Life or DeathCon is a conference before the March for Life in D.C. On January 23rd, I will be speaking along with many others. Go to Life or DeathCon.com. Use code Alley 10 for 10% off your ticket.

That's Life or Deathcon.com. Code Alley 10. Hey guys. Welcome to Relatable. Happy Wednesday. Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far. Today is going to be a more pop culture focused episode. Some of you love when we do pop culture. Some of you do not like it. So if you're not a fan of the pop culture stuff, then I would recommend skipping this episode or at least skipping that segment of this episode. But I've been wondering what is going on

with this Blake lively Justin Baldoni drama. I've been seen rumors and bits and pieces of this story on social media for a while. And so I wanted to dig into it and figure out what is really going on. And I actually think it's significant in that there are some relevant lessons to draw from this drama. So I will explain to you what is happening there, why I actually think it's significant and how I think we can learn something from it. But first, I want to talk about something else that's going on in California right now, and that is the devastating wildfire that is ripping its way through parts of Southern California,

specifically in the Pacific Palisades. Yesterday morning, around 10.30 a.m., a wildfire broke out along Piedja Marada Drive in Pacific Palisades by evening. It had grown to more than 2,900 acres. we do not know exactly what started it. There are some guesses that it was actually a group of homeless people that had started a fire for warmth or for whatever, who knows, and that it got out of control. And so obviously right away, we see that this is at least in part the consequence of policy decisions over the years as California has become more progressive and they have been unable or really not unable. but unwilling to do anything about the growing homelessness and public drug use problem in the state of

California that there's been all kinds of issues that have come from that. This could be, we don't know for sure, but this could be one of the results of that unfortunate set of policy prescriptions in the name of social justice that they've put in place over the years. Evacuation orders and warnings are currently in place for the areas affected by and surrounding the fire, residents have been ordered to go to their nearest evacuation shelter. The fire grew exponentially overnight due to winds up to 100 miles per hour. And so it's just the perfect storm. The combination of wind and fire is obviously a very deleterious one. So this also makes it very difficult to maintain. There are so many firefighters out there right now doing the very best that they can with the resources that

they have. In fact, at least a couple of you have reached out to me via Instagram telling me that your husbands are out there right now fighting the fire. Before we say anything else, I just want you to know and I want to ask the rest of my audience to please pray specifically for the firefighters. Pray for their protection. Pray that God would give them supernatural energy and strength and courage that they would be preserved and that they would have the ability to put out and to contain these fires. And also just pray for rain. Pray for that God would give mercy through rain that would snuff out the fires entirely. Early this morning, the LA Times reported that some firefighters were reporting over internal radio systems that the fire hydrants and the area

were dry, that they were unable to pump water from them. So even though the firefighters are doing what they're supposed to do, they're doing everything they can, they have to rely on these fire hydrants and they can't even do that because the city was completely unprepared. Now why would California with its history of devastating wildfires be unprepared, this unprepared, that they would not even have water in their fire hydrants. Well, we've got some guesses as to why, and we'll get to that in a second. A spokesperson for the Department of Water and Power acknowledged reports of diminished water flow from hydrants, but did not have details on the number of hydrants without water or the scale of the issue. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said that

wind gusts up to 60 miles an hour are expected to continue. And we've got kind of a picture, a map of where the fires are right now. As of this morning, the fire has burned almost 3,000 acres is zero percent contained. There are some really scary videos going around right now on acts from people who have been unable to escape the fire, or this was right before they evacuated, absolutely terrifying. Here's SOT 10. I just, I've never been in a situation like that. I don't even know what you do. Did that person die? What happens there? My goodness.

Imagine if you have children, if you have babies, if you, oh my, oh my goodness. I can't imagine the panic and the terror that is being felt. Let me pause and tell you about our first sponsor for the day. And that is seven weeks coffee. I already got to tell you about them earlier this week. And they really are such an awesome company. Seven weeks got their name. because of the size of a baby in the womb at seven weeks gestation.

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That's 7weeks Coffee.com code Alley. Rick Caruso, he is a billionaire and a real estate developer. He called into L.A. local news to talk about the issue. He called into Fox 11 and said this. He said, this is like a third world country. There is no water coming out of the fire hydrants. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is on a foreign trip to Ghana. We don't need local officials, by the way, to be traveling to foreign countries. We don't. The president, certain members of the presidential

administration may need to do that for strategic and specific reasons. We don't need mayors to do that. There's zero reason for you to abandon your post, although Karen Bass is not known for maintaining her post in a way that is effective or protective of her constituents at all. So maybe it makes no difference, but at the very least, it is a symbol of her dereliction of duty. And we see this in politicians really across the aisle, but specifically when it comes to these progressive activists, they want power. They are corrupt to the core. They are interested in lining their own pockets. They're interested in pushing their ideology, which is politically.

and financially expedient to them, they really don't care about serving the people that elected them to serve them. And so, again, this is the result of specific policy decisions, just as we talked about yesterday and Monday, the disasters, many of them that we see, whether it's in our health care system, whether it's in our inner cities when you're talking about homelessness or drug use, or the recidivism rate where you've got criminals getting out of jail or being bailed out easily and then going on to create further victims, the crisis at the border, the fentanyl crisis, the stealing of our technologies, of our national security secrets by nefarious people here from the CCP or other countries. All of these are the results of specific policy decisions.

They're not inevitable. And a lot of what is happening here in California right now is not inevitable. The LA Fire Department launched their DEI, that's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Bureau in January 2023. ABC7 called their lack of past DEI initiatives, a crisis that the department was responding to. This was a while ago when they aired this particular segment about it. Here is SOT9. The department's first ever, diversity, equity, and inclusion Bureau will launch in January one year since its first ever female fire chief, Kristen Crowley, was appointed. So by creating this new Bureau, our Diversity Equipun Inclusion Bureau, now we actually have the staff to do the work when it comes to doing a deep dive in regard to how we do business,

how we take care of one another in the fire stations and in our work environment. So there you have it. That was the crisis that they were focusing on. That was where they were putting their time, their effort, their money. Here's what I said on X, and I'll just reiterate it. DEI is a tool of destruction. Everywhere it is wielded. There are some people even on the conservative side who would say, oh, well, parts of DEI are necessary.

They might even say diversity is our strength, certainly people on the progressive side, diversity of sexual preferences, diversity of so-called gender identity, diversity of skin color, diversity of immigrant status. This is all so important to have this kind of representation among our firefighters, among our police officers, among our congresspeople, among our military. Let me just tell you right now, it is not. It's not only important, but diversity in and of itself, when it is a goal in and of itself, is actually more likely to cause chaos

and destruction than it is to enable strength and cohesion. Diversity without a shared value system, a shared priority that is transcendent of all of our differences is actually a weakness, not a strength. The reason why diversity within the body of Christ, within the global church is beautiful, is because we are united by something that transcends. all of these external differences. We are united by the gospel. We weigh our value by who God says that we are and we are citizens primarily of His kingdom. But without that kind of transcendent cohesion and shared belief system, diversity actually can tear institutions and organizations apart. And when you prioritize anything, but in particular, diversity, equity, inclusion, which are really all just

euphemisms for discrimination against white men. When you prioritize that over what should be prioritized in every institution, but especially every organization that is saving people's lives, fire department, police department, military, you are going to evaluate. You are going to, eventually kill people. You will lead to death. When you sacrifice competence or effectiveness for diversity, you will kill people. I say social justice kills. People used to think that was such an extreme thing to say. It's true. Soft on crime policies, soft on drug policies, soft on homelessness policies. All of these policies kill. They lead to death. They lead to chaos. They lead to destruction. When you prioritize DEI over competence over effectiveness, people will die.

But that is exactly the calculation that progressives have made. They think that it is more important to meet these superficial artificial quotas than it is for everyone to reach the necessary standard in order for their institution or organization to actually be good and effective at what they do. And okay, maybe that's a sacrifice you as a private business owner are willing to make if you own an accounting firm. Maybe it's more important to you that you meet these quotas than it is for everyone to be as good as they can be at their job. But when you're using public money, when you are running an organization that means life or death for the people that you're serving, it should be illegal. It should be illegal for you to prioritize these DEI

initiatives at all. Diversity should not be a goal within these institutions at all. Competence should. When it comes to military, lethality, end of story. It doesn't matter if it is all white men. If it is all white men and your military unit is the most lethal than it can be, then good. It doesn't it matter what the gender is, what the race is, the most important thing is that you are able to do your job. Your institution is able to work as it should. I said in my ex post, diversity is not a worthy goal in itself. Effectiveness is when you sacrifice effectiveness for diversity, especially within a fire department, police force or military unit people will die. I am tired of innocent people's lives being placed on the altar of equity. Enough. Enough. I am also tired of people's

lives, of people's livelihoods being placed on the altar of fake environmentalism. I mean, ask the farmers in central California about the delta smelt. The radical environmentalist groups who bully the politicians in the state of California decided that the delta smelt, this tiny little fish in the waterways of California was more important than farmers in central California, which are responsible for a huge amount of food production being able to properly water their crops. That caused food shortages. That caused people's livelihoods to be upended. But because these environmentalist groups cared more about, not even equally, but more about preserving this tiny fish and not disrupting their ecosystem.

at all, they were willing to sacrifice these farmers and the people who rely on these farmers for food supply. Look, progressivism kills. It sucks. It causes chaos. And that is why, again, one reason we have to care about politics, why all these conversations matter. It's not just, oh, I don't want to get into politics. I don't want to be divisive. Look, when people's lives are on the line and politics are affecting policy which affects people's lives, Christians have to care because we understand more than anyone else how much a human life matters. So all that to say, I am really praying for California. I'm praying for God's mercy there. And yes, of course, I'm praying for instant reprieve from these fires, but I am also praying for God's mercy

to manifest itself in a change of leadership in California. Like, When will the people there learn that the people that you're voting for actually hate you? And the policies that are being implemented are destructive. Maybe not to the billionaires who can just hop on their private jet and go to their home in Montana for a few weeks. But to everyone who doesn't have the ability to do that. And if you really have the compassion that you say that you do, then maybe you'll reevaluate the worldview that you've adopted that has led you to vote for people. who are so incredibly awful at their jobs. All right.

Let's get into some pop culture stuff. Let me pause and tell you about our next sponsor before we get into the rest of this. And that is cozy earth. Okay, why not make better sleep a New Year's resolution? I think that that is a great one. We're really thinking about like getting back to the grind and working harder and waking up earlier when it comes to New Year's resolutions, which might all be good. But all of that is really dependent upon how well we rest and how well we sleep.

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up to 40% off. CozyEarth.com slash relatable code relatable. Okay, let's get into what is going on with Blake Lively and Justin Paldoni. Bree is going to be joining into this conversation because she actually knew a lot about this before I started looking into it. And so I will lean on her to explain a few things. But let me just tell you what is going on. I will try to keep it as concise as possible. I saw yesterday that I did not make it to under an hour on.

yesterday's episode, which means I have already lost my New Year's resolution to try to keep every episode under an hour in 2025, but my dad said I could blame it on him. I got my yapping honest. And so the apple didn't far, the yapple didn't fall far from the tree there. But I will try. I'll try to keep this under an hour. I don't think it's going to happen today. Maybe I can just abandon my resolution altogether. Okay. So this is what's going on. Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, both actors. I don't, maybe you know Blake Lively from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants like I do. I think that's the last movie I've seen her in. I don't know. Maybe that was 2004 something. I think that was the perfect role for her, but that's all I

really know about Blake Lively's career had never heard of Justin Baldoni before all of this. So here's the summary and then we'll get into the details. And again, I actually think there are significant lessons for us to draw from all of this. Blake lively is the star of It Ends with Us. This is a movie based on Colleen Hoover's popular novel. And we will link the episode that I did on Colleen Hoover and her books and why I think they're so problematic and why I just think that they make women's brains mush and probably ruin relationships because they are just smut. Very easy to read, but complete and total smut. And at the very least, emotional porn, if not actual porn. And there's an argument to be made that even while they are,

she is condemning domestic violence, she is almost weirdly glorifying it and romanticizing it in some of these books, specifically in It Inns with Us. I did read this book before I knew anything about Colleen Hoover. So that's what this movie is about. And that context is important, that it's about domestic violence and the title of the movie and book is supposed to be, look, this curse, this horrible sin of domestic violence is supposed to end with the protagonist of this, which is Blake Lively's character. All right. So Blake Lively recently filed a lawsuit against her co-star in the film and the film's director, Justin Baldoni, alleging sexual harassment among many other things during the film's production.

Baldoni has denied any wrongdoing, has filed a $250 million lawsuit of his own, not against Blake Lively, but against the New York Times. For their reporting on the allegations and his lawyer, big celebrity lawyer, who was represented a lot of very powerful celebrities, Brian Friedman, has threatened to file a lawsuit against Lively. Both parties accused the other of orchestrating Smear campaigns to destroy the other. career and reputation. I will say the only thing I really knew about this going in going into it besides what the movie was about was that Blake lively started a few months ago, started having videos of her past interviews going around or she didn't have them going around like she didn't

post them herself. But other people, people, I don't know, just anonymous ex users, TikTok users, started posting these old interviews of Blake lively where she really comes across as very brady. And I was wondering, like, why are people posting this now? Some of these are several years old. Is this orchestrated? And I'm not saying that it was, but I have heard more negative things about Blake lively in the past few months than I had ever heard before. And I did have my own suspicions back then. again, before all of this drama, that that was actually purposeful, that that bad press was being put out there by someone who had a bone to pick with her. And so maybe that's a rumbling that you have heard, that you have seen too. And if that's all the contexts that you have, that's fine,

because I'm going to fill in the details here. So here, again, are the key players. We got Blake lively, 37 years old, played Lily Bloom in the film. We've got Justin Baldoni, director of the film stars is ryle kincade lily's abusive partner we've got wayfarer studios baldoni's production company produced it ends with us jamie heath justin's producing partner and ceo of wayfarer studios melissa nathan justin's crisis publicist leslie sloane blake lively's publicist um so here's some more background and timeline it ends with us was released on august ninth it did really well grossed $351 million. At the time of the movie's release,

Baldoni praised Blake Lively as, quote, strong, funny, and intelligent, all the things that you want from a female heroine. And then there were feud rumors that started circulating right around the time of the release of the movie. This is according to the New York Times. There was social media, there were social media fans who noticed that Baldoni and Lively

avoided each other during the film's promotion, that they didn't follow each other on social media. We don't know how internet sleuths find out the things that they do, but they're, they are basically like professional observers of these kinds of things. People who pay very close attention to everything that celebrities are doing. They're always looking for Easter eggs. They're always looking for connections and theories and all of that kind of thing. And so that's what starts sometimes. some kind of viral conversation.

These posts started circulating on different social media platforms. Wait, why don't they actually appear in any of the promotion or marketing of the film together? At first, fans believed that Baldoni was not posing for cameras with his co-stars as a marketing tactic because he plays an abusive husband. And so maybe they were afraid that it wouldn't be as believable if they were all buddy, buddy off camera. However, internet sleuths also notice that the stars no longer and still don't follow each other on social media with many of the films cast following lively but not Baldoni. Colleen Hoover also no longer follows Baldoni and Ryan Reynolds blocked Baldoni months before the film's release. According to texts from Baldoni's team, which we may talk about in just a little bit if we have time, the drama was fueled by reports of conflict during the making of the film.

all by anonymous sources from production. Hollywood reporter reports that there was a fracture among the filmmakers and the post-production process were two different cuts of the movie. Emerged, TMZ reported that the problems between them allegedly arose after Blake felt, quote-unquote, fat-shamed. We'll get into that, by Justin on set while they were preparing for a scene that saw him lift her off the ground. Fans also noticed that Baldonian Lively did not interact at the premiere for the film. from Daily Mail. It ends with us. Fans are convinced there's a huge feud between Blake

Lively and Justin Baldoni. Here's why. And of course they were right. And we've got pictures of this. We've got pictures of Blake Lively posing with her husband, Ryan Reynolds, with another co-star. We've got another picture of Blake Lively with another co-star, but did not appear in any pictures with Justin Baldoni. And then there was also, this is a screenshot. from the promo video where you've got Blake Lively and three of her co-stars. You do not see Justin Baldoni there, which I think is very strange. All of the interviews that she did, she did not do with him, not only because he is the co-star is the strange that she didn't do any interviews with him, but also because he is the director.

You would have thought that they would have, if they had a good relationship, come together and tried to promote the film together, but they really didn't. Around this time, Baldoni hired crisis management and PR professional Melissa Nathan. I guess because of the rumor circulating that, oh, this doesn't look good. Why don't people follow Baldoni? Is he really a bad guy? And he was like, I'm going to get out ahead of this. I'm just surmising here.

And I'm going to hire this crisis management publicist Melissa Nathan. Lots of previous clients, including Johnny Depp, during his successful defamation trial against Amber Heard. And just like looking at that, I would say that Melissa Naifold. Nathan did an effective job because by the end of that, I think most public opinion was against Amber Heard and in favor of Johnny Depp. Again, I don't know exactly what role she played in the internet's opinions, but I'm sure if she is a stealth publicist, she had quite a significant role in that. Let me pause and tell you about her next sponsor.

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year plus when you use my code alley you get $25 off your order that is good ranchers.com slash alley code alley for $25 off good ranchers.com slash alley also around this time though people started criticizing Blake lively lively is known for her upbeat and kind of witty demeanor very like likeable girl next door and yet people were saying around the release of this film that lively seemed extremely tone deaf in her promotion, like very aloof. And a lot of the interviews that I alluded to from the past that people started circulating online, that's how she comes across. She comes across as very aloof. And to be quite honest, she comes across in those interviews, a couple of them will play clips from, as extremely self-absorbed. And so that's what

people started to stay online. She was seen promoting both the movie about domestic violence and at the same time her cocktail brand, Betty Buzz, at a pop-up shop in Chelsea. The New York Times wrote about this saying it's a cheery gimmick that seems awkwardly out of step within the context of the film itself, which tells the story of a woman dealing with domestic violence. And you can see this picture right here. So here she is in Chelsea. The reason why people thought that this was problematic is because she is combining her promotion of her cocktail company with the promotion of the movie. So her company is called Betty Buzz, her cocktail company.

And in the movie, Lily, the character that she plays owns a flower shop. And her name is Lily Bloom. And so it's a play on that. And so you can see here, the little cart that, that she is using to promote both things. It's called Betty Bloom's. So it's a play all together and people just thought that that was a strange marketing gimmick given the gravity of the subject of the movie. I don't know. I'm not really sure about that. I'm not sure whether or not that is tone deaf, maybe so. But I could see the argument of saying, well, it's a movie and it is

is kind of just like a, I won't call it like a rom-com, but it is, even though it's a serious subject that the book is about, it is marketed as like this like light reading for women who don't want to think very hard as they are reading. Like it's not war in peace. Of course, domestic violence is serious, but that's kind of like Colleen Hoover's thing as she writes about some serious subjects, but in a way that is very romantic in a way that is kind of like lighthearted and very easy readism. So I'm not totally sure if Blake lively is at fault for something like something like this. I don't know if necessarily it means that she doesn't actually care about domestic violence. Maybe you could argue that for other reasons. I don't know

if this is a great example of that. Social media responded when news emerged that Blake's Betty Buzz Company had provided, ends with us themed cocktails for the film's premiere after party, including one called Ryle You Wait, named after the character in the film who throws his wife down the stairs. That, I would say, is maybe a little far. Okay, that I can agree is weird. That's weird.

Like, to, in a funny way, in some kind of, like, endearing way. name specifically an alcoholic drink, which is known to exacerbate the problem of, so maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was wrong in my whole assessment that I just told you. I don't know. I'm kind of thinking about this as I go. But this puts a finer point on it to promote alcohol when you are also seemingly kind of glorifying the antagonist abuser in the movie. Yeah. I don't know. it's weird. It does seem like you are trivializing the whole issue. So I'm debating with myself and you are welcome to give your thoughts in the YouTube comments. There are some comments under the Instagram post where she posted that. Is your company at least making a donation to an organization

helping victims of domestic violence, just cute cocktails and marketing? Someone else said, people with alcohol issues are six times more likely to abuse their partners. I think that is, That is a great point that I didn't think about when I first started talking about the whole Betty Buzz, Betty Bloom thing. Promoting a film with such a powerful DV theme, domestic violence theme with an alcohol brand is disappointed, disrespectful of domestic violence survivors. Yeah, I get that perspective. And I think that is, that's true. That's fair. Another thing that the audience is saying was tone deaf was that it ends with us TikTok page also released a promo or lively and Colleen Hoover,

the author of the books and grab your friends and wear your florals. Here they are. Saw one. Hello, Blake lively here. Colleen Hoover. And it ends with us is in theaters now. So grab your friends, wear your florals. I don't know. I don't think that that was that bad. Bree, do you disagree with me? I mean, in general, I think people are overreacting a little bit because it's a movie. But yeah, I think it's a tiny bit insensitive because it's not a rom-com.

I see your point that like it's kind of marketed as one. The book is at least in the sense that like she does fall in love, I guess at the end. I haven't read it. But I mean, grab your friends and your florals is a little bit like you're going to watch a rom-com.

I don't know. Yeah. I know I know I heard people go to this movie who did not know what it was about, who thought it was just a rom-com. And they got in and were like, oh. Yeah. Yeah. Right.

It's not the proposal. No. With Ryan Reynolds, which, by the way, like, one of my favorite rom-coms makes me laugh out loud. That is a rom-com. Sweet Home Alabama is a rom-com. Yep. This, I guess, it's not a comedy. It's romantic, but.

it's not funny and lighthearted. But again, I think that is like the, that is Colleen Hoover. That's her brand. Like all of her stuff is marketed as kind of light and airy, but a lot of it has to do with really deep and dark issues that aren't presented by the way always in like, hey, this is really deep and dark. You should seek help. And certainly not in a gospel-centered way. But it is kind of like you fall in love. She wants you to like fall in love. She wants you to like fall in love and be sexually attracted to the abusive character before you learn that he's abused. Like, and I get that's what a secular author would do, but I think it's problematic in that way. And that's why the marketing is confused because Colleen Hoover is confused.

I will say also this is her first adaptation. They're adapting a bunch of her books now, but this is the first one. And I think there aren't a lot of other authors, at least popular authors, who are doing that exact thing. Not that she's groundbreaking, but just the tone. is kind of unique to her. And I think they have now figured out that they can't be marketed like this. Okay. But do you think it was tone deaf or do you think it was purposeful? Like if they like opened up each commercial like, I don't know, the beginning of Law and Order SVU, people weren't probably going to go.

Yeah. I mean, don't you think they wanted people like you and me to go and they, it could have been more strategic that they also realized that people really just want lighthearted, romantic comedies and they wanted people to walk into the theater and not know what it was going to be because if they told everyone it was about abuse they wouldn't go yeah no i think that's absolutely what it was i don't i would say it's still kind of tone deaf because i don't think they expected people to have the backlash yeah yeah yeah to care as much as they did um but i agree with you i think that was the strategy for sure yeah yeah um interestingly it was baldoni who said i don't really want to do the whole like rom-com promotion thing now so he wasn't a part of all of that the

lightheartedness about it which made him come across like well see i really care about domestic violence which maybe it was genuine but also could have been strategic well he is has claimed that he got the rights to this because he went directly he read the book he went directly to calling hoover and said i have to make this because i care so much about the subject matter and That's why he ultimately bought the property. And so he has kind of a history of making it known that he does care about this. Again, I don't know how genuine it is. But he comes across as being genuine about it.

And even in the text exchanges... And he calls himself a male feminist. He totally does, yeah. But in the text exchanges that he released, to be fair, he released to them, they do come across as pretty sincere. He's even talking about when he gets slighted, which I guess we can talk about later by Blake. that he, you know, the thing that really matters is that women are seeing this and can see themselves in this movie. So, you know, I don't know, he comes across as sincere, I will say. Yeah. And maybe he is. We just have no. The thing is we don't know who is being sincere

and earnest and who is just being strategic and cynical. And maybe it's a combination of both on both sides. It typically is something like that. If you are a business owner, then you need to listen up. NetSuite is going to make your life so much easier. Your business so much more efficient and consequently more successful. NetSuite by Oracle is the number one cloud ERP that brings accounting, financial management, inventory, HR into one fluid platform with one unified business management suite. There's one source of truth giving you the visibility and control you need to make quick decisions. You are closing your books in days rather than weeks and so you can spend your valuable time doing the things that you both need and want to do, whether you've got a big

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