This week:
- What is this Blake Lively feud?
- The most famous Olympic photos.
- My new Olympic inspiration.
- My probable Olympic reality.
What’s happening with Blake Lively’s movie?
The new Blake Lively star vehicle It ends with us is a film that I will not watch under any circumstances. The discussion about the drama behind the scenes surrounding It ends with usbut: I devour it like a Domino’s pizza after three days of fasting.
The film, based on Colleen Hoover’s best-selling book, has not received the best reviews worldwide. Most critics have given their opinions mediocre to downright scathing. Nick Schager of The Daily Beast’s Obsessed called the film “a mushy drama that treats its serious subject with all the seriousness and realism of a Hallmark Channel movie.”
This reflects a general reaction to the film, which, according to the trailer, appears to be a captivating love story: Wait, this is actually about domestic violence?!?!
Those reviews and reactions haven’t hurt box office projections. Thursday’s previews brought in a whopping $7 million, while weekend estimates soared to $55 million, a huge sum in today’s landscape.
All of this, however, was overshadowed by rumors circulating on social media and gossip blogs that there was a feud between the film’s stars, directors and producers, involving Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, director and star Justin Baldoni and co-star Jenny Slate. Not since the Don’t worry, darling press tour there was such a juicy ego drama to analyze off camera.
Even industry channels such as Shine And The Hollywood ReporterR show no concerns about jeopardizing Lively and Reynolds’ future access by covering up the rumors. And these are deep divesPeople: TikTok conspiracy theories, body language analysis, dissecting press conference quotes and interviews… all that tinfoil hat stuff that could be groundbreaking or meaninglessly speculative, and that I live for either way.
In short: Fans noticed that Baldoni, who produced, directed and stars as the lover-turned-villain, was largely absent from the film’s press tour while Lively and Reynolds, who was a producer, were everywhere. They also noticed that no one from the cast took photos with him on the premiere red carpet and that they don’t follow him on social media either.
Theorists are also reading a lot into Slate’s red carpet interview, where she was asked what it was like having Baldoni as a director and scene partner, to which she almost did a complete about-face and simply said it was a “tough job” taking on multiple roles and that she would never want to do that. One user on X wrote, “Oh Queen Jenny Slate… so something DEFINITELY happened on the set of It Ends With Us and everyone hates Justin Baldoni. I need to get to the bottom of this.”
After Lively told a reporter that Reynolds had rewrote a pivotal scene in the film that takes place on a rooftop, speculation began that she and Reynolds had taken over the film’s creative process and pushed Baldoni out. There are also reports that Lively commissioned her own final cut of the film.
Is any of this true? I don’t know. But every now and then, the Extremely Online community comes together to go completely over the top with their investigations into dramas like this, and while it’s completely gross—there’s no real evidence for anything—we’d be lying if we didn’t admit that it’s all pretty entertaining to watch.
In an age where press tours are so hyped and staged that no one is actually saying anything of substance, we’ll never get a full, truthful answer to what happened. That’s to the detriment of the actors involved, because instead we’re all spreading rumors. Bring back media circles where stars actually say something useful – especially if it means I don’t have to spend my time scrolling through conspiracy theory TikToks anymore.
Frame them and hang them in the Louvre
Last week, a photo by Jérôme Brouillet of Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina floating in the air celebrating a great run went viral. A friend said to me this week, “This photo has to win a Pulitzer Prize, right?” It’s that good.
It made me think of some other indelible photos from this year’s Games, especially from Week 2.
The photo of US gymnasts Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles bowing on the podium to Brazil’s Rebecca Andrade, who won gold in the floor exercise, made my cold, stiff heart swell. It is such a moving example of sportsmanship, and was especially appreciated by the spectators who watched the entire gymnastics competition in awe of Andrade, who deserves such a celebration.
Another highlight on the gymnasts’ podium is an enchanting sequence of events: China’s Zhou Yaqin is unaware that the Italian medalists were posing for the classic “bite the medal” photo, but notices it belatedly and quickly joins in.
I am obsessed with how participants in other sports celebrated their success by recreating, with the casualness of a Tuesday trip to the supermarket, the iconic photo of Turkish sniper Yusuf Dikeç winning a silver medal.
Particularly poignant is this image of sprinter Noah Lyles collapsing on the track after finishing his race and winning the bronze medal despite having COVID. (And it also raises a lot of questions about safety and health precautions at the Olympics when it comes to competing after a positive test.)
And then there’s French pole vaulter Anthony Amiratti, whose huge penis dashed his Olympic dreams. (But it made him a star for, er, other reasons.)
Will the photo hang in a museum? If this “museum” is the “wall of my apartment”, then yes. Otherwise…
Maybe there is still hope for me …
One of my favorite stories from this year’s Olympics is that of American cyclist Kristen Faulkner, who won a gold medal in a sport she only started training for six years ago.
She gave up her career as a venture capitalist in 2021 to focus full-time on cycling and is now competing in the Olympics. If I stop today and start training, I should be at the top of the podium at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
Although, I guess I should buy a bike first.
…However, it is more likely that
I have to admit that after watching the Australian breakdancer at the Olympics on Friday, I’m far more suited to this sport than cycling. Especially when an Olympic-worthy routine looks like this:
More from The Daily Beast’s Obsessed
The director of the House of the Dragon In the season 2 finale, the whole episode was revealed to us. Read more.
The Josh Hartnett Naissance is finally here! (Very important to me.) Read more.
Every dramatic dinner episode of Real Housewives gives an angel wings. Read more.
What to see this week:
industry: Finally, good television is coming back to our screens. (Sunday on HBO)
Goods: A brilliant, emotional and surprising indie film debut. (Now in cinemas)
Daughters: A wonderful documentary. Bring tissues. (Wed. on Netflix)
What to skip this week:
It ends with us: The drama behind the scenes is better than the film. (Now in cinemas)
Borderland: Alternative title: Cate Blanchett, what were you thinking? (Now in cinemas)
