‘It Ends With Us’ actor Brandon Sklenar addresses online ‘negativity’ after backlash related to the film

By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN

(CNN) — “It Ends With Us” actor Brandon Sklenar is addressing the online discourse surrounding the release and promotion of the new movie.

Sklenar posted a lengthy message on his Instagram page on Tuesday, writing that author Colleen Hoover, who penned the bestselling 2016 novel on which the film is based, and the women of the cast “stand for hope, perseverance, and for women choosing a better life for themselves.”

“Vilifying the women who put so much of their heart and soul into making this film because they believe so strongly in its message seems counterproductive and detracts from what this film is about,” he wrote.

Reports of creative differences and tensions on set between the film’s star and co-executive producer Blake Lively and her co-star and director Justin Baldoni have plagued the film’s rollout, which Sklenar addressed head-on.

“What may or may not have happened behind the scenes does not and hopefully should not detract from what our intentions were in making this film. It’s been disheartening to see the amount of negativity being projected online,” Sklenar wrote.

Attention has also been brought to how Lively and the movie’s promotional campaign has – or, in some cases, hasn’t – addressed the issue of domestic violence, a central plot element in the film.

“There isn’t a single person Involved in the making of this film that was not aware of the responsibility we had in making this,” Sklenar wrote this week. “A responsibility to all the women who have experienced generational trauma – Domestic abuse – Or struggle with looking in the mirror and loving who they see.”

The film, according to Sklenar, is meant to inspire, instill hope and “spread love and awareness.”

“It is not meant to once again, make the women the “bad guy,” let’s move beyond that together,” he wrote, before asking his followers to stop spreading hate on the internet.

CNN had previously reached out to representatives for Lively and Sony Pictures for comment.

Sony Pictures Entertainment Chair-CEO Tony Vinciquerra defended the promotion of the film – which some have felt focused too heavily on lighter aspects – in a statement given to The Hollywood Reporter last week.

“So many women put so much effort into this remarkable movie, working selflessly from the start to ensure that such an important subject matter was handled with care,” Vinciquerra’s statement read.

“It Ends with Us” follows Lily Bloom (Lively), a flower shop owner who overcomes a traumatic childhood marred by abuse. She falls in love with Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni), with whom she has an intense connection but soon sees worrying patterns that remind her of her parents’ relationship.

“Intimate partner violence affects all genders, including more than 12 million people every year in the United States. Everyone deserves relationships free from domestic violence,” Lively wrote on her Instagram Stories earlier this month next to a link to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Sklenar, for his part, is hoping his followers will refrain from negative commenting and choose to “be a part of something better together.”

“A part of a new story,” he wrote, “being written for women and all people everywhere.”

CNN’s Dan Heching contributed to this story.

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