Brandon Sklenar, Blake Lively’s co-star from “It Ends With Us,” has made a public appeal to trolls to stop “spreading hate on the internet.”
The Gossip Girl star leads the cast of the new film based on the novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover, but rumors have been circulating online of a bitter feud between her and her director and co-star Justin Baldoni after several disagreements arose during filming.
Now Brandon – who stars alongside the pair in the film – has advised haters to hold back because it is a “distraction” from the film’s important themes of domestic violence. In a post on Instagram, he wrote: “I wanted to take a minute and address all the stuff that’s going around on the internet.”
“Colleen and the women in this cast represent hope, perseverance and women choosing to live a better life. To denigrate the women who put so much heart and soul into making this film because they believe so strongly in its message seems counterproductive and distracts from what this film is about. In fact, it is the opposite of what it is supposed to be about.”
He continued: “What may or may not have happened behind the scenes does not and hopefully should not detract from our intentions in making this film. It has been disheartening to see the amount of negativity being projected online…
“There is not a single person involved in the making of this film who was not aware of the responsibility we had. A responsibility to all women who have experienced intergenerational trauma – domestic violence – or who have difficulty looking in the mirror and loving the person they see in it.”
Brandon further called the film a “harsh reality check for the men who need to get their shit together and take responsibility for themselves and their actions,” adding that the goal of the film is to “spread love and awareness.”
The actor added: “This is not about making the woman the ‘villain’ again, let’s get over this together. I just ask you to ask yourself who you are helping before spreading hate on the internet.”
“Ask yourself if your opinions are based on facts. Or if you just want to be part of something. Let’s be part of something better together. Part of a new story being written for women and all people everywhere.”
Blake Lively’s co-star Brandon Sklenar calls on trolls to “stop spreading hate”
