Brandon Sklenar opens up about backlash over It Ends With Us drama

Brandon Sklenar is reflecting on the online backlash he faced after speaking out about the controversy surrounding his It Ends With Us costars, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. 

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sklenar recalled reading hateful messages directed at him after he posted a note on Instagram urging fans to be kind. 

“‘You’re a piece of s***,’ ‘I hope you die,’ ‘I hope your career ends,’” he recalled the insults hurled at him.

Sklenar had addressed the tensions on set during the movie’s press tour in August 2024, months before Lively filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni and associates.

He wrote that author Colleen Hoover and the women of the cast “stand for hope, perseverance, and for women choosing a better life for themselves,” and warned that vilifying them detracted from the film’s message.

After Lively went public with her claims in December 2024, Sklenar shared her complaint on Instagram Stories, urging followers to read it. 

“It’s about love. It’s about supporting women. I just want people to remember what it’s about,” he said on the Vanity Fair Oscars red carpet in March 2025.

Despite his agent’s advice to avoid the internet, he saw the harsh reactions firsthand, comparing it to listening to a door full of hundreds of thousands of voices.

Sklenar explained he never intended to be controversial. “I wasn’t damning anybody, but I was just like, ‘Can we focus on the ethos of this whole f****** movie and not be so hateful?’” he said. 

Sklenar currently stars in the thriller The Housemaid opposite Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney. 

Meanwhile, Lively and Baldoni’s trial is scheduled for May 18, 2026.