When you’ve got a new film to promote, the thought of it dominating the public conversation is usually a welcome. Unless, of course, the reason people are talking is because of widespread rumours about unrest among your cast and crew.
For the past week or so, the new movie It Ends With Us – starring Blake Lively alongside a supporting cast that includes Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Brandon Sklenar and Justin Baldoni, who is also on double duty as the film’s director – has been at the centre of plenty of whisperings on social media.
It all began on TikTok, where amateur sleuths began piecing together supposed evidence indicating that there was “drama” among the cast, and it all seems to have snowballed from there.
So, where has it all come from?
Well, the conversation seems to have started when it was noticed that none of the principal stars of It Ends With Us were following their director back on Instagram, despite him following all of them.
The Evening Standard also pointed out that when it came to promoting the film, much of the press saw cast members being interviewed as individuals, rather than in pairs or groups.
And even at the premiere, there were no photos of Blake and Justin together, despite being the leads in the movie, although she did pose for photos with several other members of the cast.
Still, so far, so innocuous, right?
Well, The Hollywood Reporter has also claimed there was drama going on among filmmakers during the editing process, citing supposed “sources” who claimed they wound up with two different cuts of the finished film.
Oh, and then there’s the fact that Blake seemingly brought in her husband Ryan Reynolds to make tweaks to certain parts of screenwriter Christy Hall’s script.
“The iconic rooftop scene, my husband actually wrote it,” she told E! News at the premiere of It Ends With Us. “Nobody knows that but you now.”
Blake added: “We help each other. He works on everything I do. I work on everything he does. So his wins, his celebrations are mine and mine are his.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter’s unspecified “insiders”, meanwhile, Ryan wrote “a large chunk of dialogue for the scene”, but not the whole thing.
Meanwhile, one interview with Jenny Slate at the premiere has racked up millions of views on X, after one user accused her of “ignoring” a question put to her about working with her director and co-star.
Personally… we’re less convinced by this one, as she doesn’t exactly dodge the question completely, but it’s certainly not helping matters.
The whole furore is putting fans in mind of the countless media reports that surrounded the release of Don’t Worry Darling, starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, which was directed by the Grammy winner’s then-girlfriend Olivia Wilde.
Much of that drama never did get explained, other than the fact that no, Harry Styles didn’t spit on Chris Pine at the Venice Film Festival, despite what you might have read.
HuffPost UK has contacted representatives for It Ends With Us, Justin Baldoni and Blake Likely for comment – in the hope they can clarify things before they reach Don’t Worry Darling levels of media hysterics…