It Ends With Us’ Justin Baldoni Pens Moving Message to Abuse Survivors

“While I can never fully understand your pain and all you have endured,” Justin admitted, “I want you to know that you are never alone in this fight. We are with you. You are not just surviving; you are thriving, and in your thriving, you inspire us all.” 

And moving forward, the 40-year-old has a special wish for survivors. 

“May your journey forward be filled with moments of profound peace,” he concluded. “And may you remember that as you fight for joy…you are liberating us all. Sending you gratitude, strength, and love.” 

Justin’s message comes amid ongoing rumors of a feud between him and Blake after fans noticed that not only was Justin conspicuously absent from press and photos with the rest of the cast, but also that his and Blake’s messaging around the film’s difficult subject matter differed. 

In fact, Justin has continued to push the subject of domestic violence to the forefront of the conversation surrounding his film—and he’s open to how every viewer feels the subject was dealt with in the film.

On some audiences feeling the film romanticizes domestic violence, he told the Associated Press in August, "I think that they are absolutely entitled to that opinion, and it makes perfect sense as to why they would feel that way."

As he noted, in today’s culture "many things are glorified and we are fighting for attention” amid saturated news cycles. 

"If anybody has had that real life experience," he continued, "I can imagine how hard it would be to imagine their experience being in a romance novel. To them I would just offer that that we were very intentional in the making of this movie." 

Meanwhile Blake, who also acted as a producer on the film, has expressed the film is about much more than this one experience of her character.

"This movie covers domestic violence," she told BBC News at the Aug. 8 London premiere, "but what's important about this film is that she is not just a survivor and she's not just a victim, and while those are huge thing to be, they're not her identity." 

For Blake, Lily's story is more about defining herself, adding, "I think that that's deep empowering to remind people that no one else can define you. No experience can define you. You define you."