Colleen Hoover admits Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s It Ends With Us battle embarrassed her

The messy legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni continues to spiral over a year after It Ends With Us released in theaters, and author Colleen Hoover has finally opened up about the drama.

While the film was met with mixed reviews (and a 55% score on Rotten Tomatoes) it has continued to stay in the public eye because of the dramatic clash between Baldoni and Lively, after Lively sued her costar in December 2024 for sexual harrassment and claimed that he attempted to ruin her reputation.

Baldoni in turn countersued Lively for defamation, extortion, and invasion of privacy. He even pulled Taylor Swift into things, but his suit was dismissed. Lively’s case, however, wasn’t — and they’ll go to trial in March 2026.

It’s an incredibly messy situation, and it’s one that has “embarrassed” the author of the book, as she opened up about the legal drama surrounding It Ends With Us for the first time.

Colleen Hoover gets “PTSD” thinking about It Ends With Us legal drama

Over a year after It Ends With Us was released, Colleen Hoover admitted she has complicated feelings about the film and the book because of the feud between its leading stars. Her approach now is “to stay removed from the negativity.” But she struggles with the story because it was inspired by her mother’s abusive marriage “and now it gives us PTSD to think about it.”

I can’t even recommend it anymore. I feel like [the lawsuit] has overshadowed it,” she told Elle. “I’m almost embarrassed to say I wrote it. When people ask what I do, I’m just like, ‘I’m a writer. Please don’t ask me what I wrote.’”

Hoover added: “But it is sad, because I was very proud of that book. And I’m still proud of it, but less publicly so. Maybe I need therapy, I don’t know.”

Despite the legal chaos, Hollywood has recognized the potential audience in Hoover’s work and there are a number of major adaptations in the works. The next movie based on one of her books is Reminders of Him, starring Maika Monroe, Tyriq Withers, Bradley Whitford, and Lainey Wilson, and it premieres in theaters in March 2026.

While we wait to see how Hoover’s next movie adaptation turns out, check out our list of the best romance movies of all time, or take a look at the ranking of the best movies of 2025.