The upcoming romantic drama, It Ends with Us, found itself awash with controversy thanks to the author of the book it is based on, Colleen Hoover.
Adapting Hoover's 2016 best-selling novel, the Blake Lively-led blockbuster is set to hit theaters on August 9, with a recent trailer giving audiences a glimpse of what is to come in this complicated on-screen romance.
Hoover's book (and in turn, the movie) follows Lily Bloom, a young woman with a troubled past who, after sparking up a relationship with a charming neurosurgeon named Ryle, finds her first love comes back into her life as she begins to realize she may have fallen for an abusive man.
Breaking Down the Colleen Hoover Controversy
As fans are introduced to Blake Lively's upcoming Colleen Hoover adaptation, It Ends with Us, the controversy surrounding the renowned author has started to bubble back up to the surface as well.
The upcoming Lively-led big-screen blockbuster marks the first of Hoover's novels to get the Hollywood treatment. However, this comes after years of public outcry regarding the writer.
Her Depiction of Abusive Relationships
The biggest point of contention amongst many when it comes to Hoover is how she has depicted abuse in her books.
Some believe the best-selling author romanticized abusive relationships in It Ends With Us, as it follows a woman who is caught in a love triangle where one of the suitors is physically hurting her.
Abuse is a delicate subject, and needs to be written in a fragile manner; however, many detractors of the author think she is flippant of the subject and any feedback regarding her depiction of it.
Following the release of the It Ends with Us novel - and plenty of public outcry over its subject matter - Hoover's next move was to put out a coloring book as well as a makeup line centered around the best-seller, further glorifying the abusive relationship at this story's center in the eyes of many.
Fans took to social media to pick apart the It Ends with Us merchandising strategy, calling it in poor taste given the subject matter.
Hoover would eventually apologize, telling CatCall Magazine (via The Guardian), "I hear you guys and I agree with you:"
"I hear you guys and I agree with you. No excuses. No finger-pointing. I have contacted the publisher to let them know I would prefer we don’t move forward with it. Thank you for the respectful discourse and accountability. Nothing but love."
Assault Allegations In Her Family
This comes as allegations regarding one of Hoover's sons have made their way online as well.
In February 2022, Hoover's son Levi was accused in a now-deleted post on social media of sexual harassment (via Distractify):
"Her son also sexually harassed me and she blocked me when i spoke up about it to her. Long story short, we were friends on [Snapchat] and s--t and like every day we would message cause we're friends right and like this was when I was 16 and he was fully aware of how old I was I was cause I always talked about the fact I was still in school."
Hoover addressed the allegations, saying that the "things being said about [her] son aren't accurate:"
"Things being said about my son aren't accurate. People are commenting that I blocked a girl for informing me that my son sexually assaulted her when she was sixteen. This absolutely did not happen, and this is not even initially what was said by this person."
She added that she has "discussed what happened, I apologized to her and thanked her for bringing this to my attention:"
"We discussed what happened, I apologized to her and thanked her for bringing this to my attention, and I offered to send her our home address and lawyer info should she want it. I held my son accountable for sending a message to her that was inappropriate. I addressed it directly with her and with my son."
Hoover has continued to write, and draw the ire of some people, since these allegations came to light, with her most recent novel It Starts with Us being released in 2022.
It Ends with Us comes to theaters on August 9.
