What is It Ends With Us about? Zack Peter says it was a "much smarter idea" for Blake Lively to use her mother's survivor story during promotions

Podcaster Zack Peter recently said that Blake Lively could have used her mother Elaine's experience with assault while promoting It Ends With Us, which addressed the themes of domestic violence and emotional abuse. Notably, the film has led to a legal battle between Blake and her co-star and director Justin Baldoni, which started last year, and the duo’s cases are scheduled for trial in March next year.

In the clip posted through his official account on X on April 26, 2025, Zack Peter said that the Gossip Girl star addressed the “drama” with Justin Baldoni at the Time100 gala, which was held this week.

Zack first began referring to how Blake Lively opened up on her mother Elaine’s experience with assault before she was born, as she spoke at the event in New York City.

The podcaster said that the Green Lantern star’s speech received a mixed response because the actress changed everything into a “moment of empowerment for survivors” by referring to her mother.

“It’s just very strange that now this is the story that she is putting out there when she had a whole movie, It Ends with Us, that was about DV, where she could have discussed all of this and used her mother’s story in a way that was more impactful and powerful to share the message of amplifying survivors, and sort of you know, amplifying her hair care line and her Betty Booze products.”

Peter added that he recalls the Café Society star reportedly saying that she did not have any direct link to domestic violence in her personal life, and added:

"I think it would have been a much smarter idea for Blake Lively to highlight her mother's story and her mother's experience and to bring that to the forefront."

Zack addressed everything that Blake said about her mother’s experience with assault, saying that he continues giving Lively the "benefit of the doubt" for most of the time. He added that Lively still makes him angry whenever he aims to give her credit for something.

Peter seemingly criticized Blake Lively, saying that she was not supposed to be the “star” of It Ends with Us and that she allegedly did the same. Zack claimed that her actions also led to Justin Baldoni’s removal from the cover art of the romantic drama film and Lively's name being included in the list of the most influential people of 2025 chosen by Time100.

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Blake Lively addressed her mother’s experience with assault at the Time100 gala

The Savages star was selected by Time100 as one of the most influential people for this year. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 37-year-old recalled at the Time100 gala on April 24, 2025, that her mother, Elaine, was once attacked by someone she knew, and that her mother was also that person who left an influence on her life.

Blake Lively also claimed that the assault incident happened when Elaine was a mother of three kids and that she never received justice for the same. The Saturday Night Live star further stated:

“She has always credited her beating heart today with stories she heard from another woman in a similar circumstance, speaking on the radio, as my mom drove home one day entirely unaware of the future ahead in which she would call upon this critical moment to save her own life. The woman painfully and graphically shared how she escaped.”

The Shallows star said that a woman saved her mother, but did not disclose the woman’s identity in her speech. However, Blake Lively expressed gratitude to the woman, saying that she is the reason why she is still alive. Lively continued by saying:

“I am here and my mom is here because that woman not only survived but she told others how. It’s a silent torch of womanhood that we’ve come to know, a pact that privately we must show others how to survive – literally or spiritually.”

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Meanwhile, the list of Time100 included the names of other personalities such as Snoop Dogg, Serena Williams, Scarlett Johansson, Adam Scott, Rashida Jones, and more.