Blake Lively Provides Domestic Violence Resources for It Ends With Us

Blake Lively had a message for fans after the premiere of It Ends With Us.

“Thank you to everyone who came out to show that people WANT to see films about women, and the multitudes we hold,” Lively, 36, wrote via her Instagram Story on Tuesday, August 13. “It Ends With Us is a story of the female experience. All the highest highs, and lowest lows. And we are so proud of it.”

Lively wrote that the cast has been “in celebration of this film and of getting a message so important out there to the masses.” She added: “Thank you for embracing @itendswithus movie with the same love, pain and joy we had sharing it with you all.”

Alongside the note, Lively shared a clip of her interview with BBC News, where she noted that the It Ends With Us covers domestic violence but “what’s important about this film is that [her character is] not just a survivor and she’s not just a victim.”

“While those are huge things to be, they are not her identity,” she said. “She’s not defined by something that someone else did to her or an event that happened to her, even if it’s multiple events. She defines herself and I think that that’s deeply empowering to remind people that no one else can define you. No experience can define you. You define you.”

She concluded: “We really feel like we delivered a story that’s emotional and it’s fun, and it’s funny, and it’s painful, and it’s scary, and it’s tragic and it’s inspiring and that’s what life is.”

In a separate Story, Lively uploaded resources for those experiencing domestic violence. “1 in 4 women aged 18 and older in the US alone have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime,” she wrote. “Intimate partner violence affects all genders, including more than 12 million people every year in the United States. Everyone deserves relationships free from domestic violence. The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides confidential support 24/7/265.”

The film, which has already reportedly made $50 million in the box office, follows Lily Bloom (Lively) who gets into an abusive relationship with neurosurgeon Ryle Kincard (Justin Baldoni). Lily subsequently reunites with her high school love interest, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar).

Colleen Hoover’s book of the same name was inspired by the author’s family history of domestic abuse. Baldoni, who directed and starred in the film, has previously spoken about how the scenes where he portrayed Ryle were difficult to film.

“There are too many people that are the real-life Lily Blooms of the world that have to deal with that every single day, and I wanted it to be as real as possible and yet it was very hard to shoot those scenes,” he told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month.

It Ends With Us is in theaters now.

If you or someone you know are experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.