← Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey
Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey
Ep 1119 | Is Blake Lively a Mean Girl? Justin Baldoni Drama Explained (Part One)
00:42:38
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- [00:01]
Ali Stuckey
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- [00:31]
Bri Stuckey
California wildfires are ripping through the southern part of the state. I will give you an update on that and what is at least partly causing this terrible devastation. Also today is part one of a very intricate deep dive into the conflict between actors Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively. There is so much there, a lot of lessons actually, I think that we can draw from this, but we are going into all of the details of their various lawsuits and tomorrow will be a very important part 2 this episode is brought to you by our friends at Life or Death Con. Life or Death Con is a conference before the March for life in D.C. on January 23rd. I will be speaking along with many others. Go to lifeordeathcon.com use code ALI10 for 10% off your ticket. That's lifeordeathcon.com code ALI10FOREIGN hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Happy Wednesday. Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far. Today is going to be a more pop culture focused episode. Some of you love when we do pop culture, some of you do not like it. Some of so if you're not a fan of the pop culture stuff, then I would recommend skipping this episode or at least skipping that segment of this episode. But I've been wondering what is going on with this Blake Lively Justin Baldoni drama. I've been seeing rumors and bits and pieces of this story on social media for a while and so I wanted to dig into it and figure out what is really going on. And I actually think it's significant and that there are some relevant lessons to draw from this drama. So I will explain to you what is happening there, why I actually think it's significant, and how I think we can learn something from it. But first, I want to talk about something else that's going on in California right now and that is the devastating wildfire that is ripping its way through parts of Southern California, specifically in the Pacific Palisades. Yesterday morning around 10:30am A wildfire broke out along Piedra Mirada Drive in Pacific Palisades. By evening, it had grown to more than 2900 acres. We do not know exactly what started it. There are some guesses that it was actually a group of homeless people that had started a fire for warmth or for whatever, who knows, and that it got out of control. And so obviously, right away, we see that this is at least in part the consequence of policy decisions over the years as California has become more progressive and they have been unable, or really not unable, but unwilling to do anything about the growing homelessness and public drug use problem in the state of California. That there's been all kinds of issues that have come from that. This could be. We don't know for sure, but this could be one of the results of that unfortunate set of policy prescriptions in the name of social justice that they've put in place over the years. Evacuation orders and warnings are currently in place for the areas affected by and surrounding the fire. Residents have been ordered to go to their nearest evacuation shelter. The fire grew exponentially overnight due to winds up to 100 miles per hour. And so it's just the perfect storm. The combination of wind and fire is obviously a very deleterious one. So this also makes it very difficult to maintain. There are so many firefighters out there right now doing the very best that they can with the resources that they have. In fact, at least a couple of you have reached out to me via Instagram telling me that your husbands are out there right now fighting the fire. And before we say anything else, I just want you to know, and I want to ask the rest of my audience to please pray specifically for the firefighters. Pray for their protection. Pray that God would give them supernatural energy and strength and courage, that they would be preserved and that they would have the ability to put out and to contain these fires. And also just pray for rain. Pray for that God would give mercy through rain that would snuff out the fires entirely. Early this morning, the LA Times reported that some firefighters were reporting over internal radio systems that the fire hydrants in the area were dry, that they were unable to pump water from them. So even though the firefighters are doing what they're supposed to do, they're doing everything they can. They have to rely on these fire hydrants, and they can't even do that because the city was completely unprepared. Now, why would California, with its history of devastating wildfires, be unprepared this, unprepared that they would not even have water in their fire hydrants? Well, we've got some guesses as to why, and we'll get to that in a second. A spokesperson for the Department of Water and power acknowledged reports of diminished water flow from hydrants but did not have details on the number of hydrants without water or the scale of the issue. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said that wind gusts up to 60 miles an hour are expected to continue. And we've got kind of a picture, a map of where the fires are right now. Now, as of this morning, the fire has burned almost 3,000 acres. It is 0% contained. There are some really scary videos going around right now on acts from people who have been unable to escape the fire or this was right before they evacuated. Absolutely terrifying. Here's sought 10. Hi, I, I just, I've never been in a situation like that. I don't even know what you do. Did that person die? What, what happens there? My goodness. Imagine if you have children, if you have babies, if you. Oh my, oh my goodness. I can't imagine the panic and the terror that is, that is being felt. Let me pause and tell you about our first sponsor for the day and that is seven Weeks Coffee. I already got to tell you about them earlier this week and they really are such an awesome company. Seven Weeks got their name because of the size of a baby in the womb. At seven weeks gestation, it's the size of a coffee bean. And the owners of Seven weeks Coffee said, hey, we want to start a coffee company because we love great, high quality coffee that also helps save the lives of babies inside the womb. And so in selling their pesticide free, mold free, totally clean organic coffee, they also donate 10 of every sale of that coffee to pro life pregnancy centers. And they have donated over half a million dollars to these pregnancy centers. It's translated into saving thousands of lives by these organizations providing much needed resources and help and counseling and ultrasounds to these pregnant women in need. So it's just a win all around. If you join their heartbeat club, you get a box of coffee to your front door every month. So it's a subscription process there and it makes it really easy. Plus you save 15% when you do that. And if you use my code ali at checkout, you save an extra 10%. Go to seven weeks coffee.com code alli. That's seven weeks coffee. Com code alli. Rick Caruso, he is a billionaire and a real estate developer. He called into LA local news to talk about the issue. He called into Fox 11 and said this. He said, this is like a third world country. There is no water coming out of the fire hydrants. LA Mayor Karen Bass is on a foreign trip to Ghana we don't need local officials, by the way, to be traveling to foreign countries. We don't. The President, certain members of the presidential administration may need to do that for strategic and specific reasons. We don't need mayors to do that. There is zero reason for you to abandon your post. Although Karen Bass is not known for maintaining her post in a way that is effective or protective of her constituents at all. So maybe it makes no difference, but at the very least, it is a symbol of her dereliction of duty. And we see this in politicians really across the aisle, but specifically when it comes to these progressive activists, they want power. They are corrupt to the core. They are interested in lining their own pockets. They're interested in pushing their ideology, which is politically and financially expedient to them. They really don't care about serving the people that elected them to serve, serve them. And so again, this is the result of specific policy decisions, just as we talked about yesterday and Monday, the disasters, many of them, that we see, whether it's in our healthcare system, whether it's in our inner cities, when you're talking about homelessness or drug use or the recidivism rate, where you've got criminals getting out of jail or being bailed out easily and then going on to create further victims. The crisis at the border, the fentanyl crisis, the stealing of our technologies, of our national security secrets by nefarious people here from the CCP or other countries, all of these are the results of specific policy decisions. They're not inevitable. And a lot of what is happening here in California right now is not inevitable. The LA Fire Department launched their DEI, that's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Bureau, in January 2023. ABC, ABC 7 called their lack of past DEI initiatives a crisis that the department was responding to. This was a while ago when they, when they aired this particular segment about it. Here is SOT9, the department's first ever.
- [11:24]
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Bureau will launch in January, one year since its first ever female Fire chief, Kristen Crowley, was appointed.
- [11:32]
Unknown
So by creating this new bureau, our Diversity, Equity Inclusion Bureau, now we actually have the staff to do the work when it comes to doing a deep dive in regard to how we do business, how we take care of one another in the fire stations and in our work environment.
- [11:48]
Bri Stuckey
So there you have it. That was the crisis that they were focusing on. That was where they were putting their time, their effort, their money. Here's what I said on X and I'll just reiterate it. DEI is a tool of destruction everywhere. It is wielded. There are some people even on the conservative side who would say, oh well, parts of DEI are necessary. They might even say, diversity is our strength. Certainly people on the progressive side, diversity of sexual preferences, diversity of so called gender identity, diversity of skin color, diversity of immigrant status, this is all so important. To have this kind of representation among our firefighters, among our police officers, among our congress people, among our military, let me just tell you right now, it is not. It's not only important, but diversity in and of itself, when it is a goal in and of itself, is actually more likely to cause chaos and destruction than it is to enable strength and cohesion. Diversity without a shared value system, a shared priority that is transcendent of all of our differences, is actually a weakness, not a strength. The reason why diversity within the body of Christ, within the global church is beautiful is because we are united by something that transcends all of these external differences. We are united by the gospel. We weigh our value by who God says that we are. And we are citizens primarily of his kingdom. But without that kind of transcendent cohesion and shared belief system, diversity actually can tear institutions and organizations apart. And when you prioritize anything, but in particular diversity, equity, inclusion, which are really all just euphemisms for discrimination against white men, when you prioritize that over what should be prioritized in every institution, but especially every organization that is saving people's lives, fire department, police department, military, you are going to eventually kill people. You will lead to death. When you sacrifice competence or effectiveness for diversity, you will kill people. I say social justice kills people. Used to think that was such an extreme thing to say. It's true. Soft on crime policy, soft on drug policies, soft on homelessness policies, all of these policies kill, they lead to death, they lead to chaos, they lead to destruction. When you prioritize DEI over competence, over effectiveness, people will die. But that is exactly the calculation that progressives have made. They think that it is more important to meet these superficial, artificial quotas than it is for everyone to reach the necessary standard in order for their institution or organization to actually, actually be good and effective at what they do. And okay, maybe that's a sacrifice you, as a private business owner, are willing to make. If you own an accounting firm, maybe it's more important to you that you meet these quotas than it is for everyone to be as good as they can be at their job. But when you're using public money, when you are running an organization that means life or death for the people that you're serving. It should be illegal. It should be illegal for you to prioritize these DEI initiatives at all. Diversity should not be a goal within these institutions at all. Competence should when it comes to military lethality. End of story. It doesn't matter if it is all white men. If it is all white men and your military unit is the most lethal than it can be, then good. It doesn't matter what the gender is, what the race is. The most important thing is that you are able to do your job, your institution is able to work as it should. I said in my ex post, diversity is not a worthy goal in itself. Effectiveness is. When you sacrifice effectiveness for diversity, especially within a fire department, police force or military unit, people will die. I am tired of innocent people's lives being placed on the altar of equity. Enough. Enough. I am also tired of people's lives, of people's livelihoods being placed on the altar of fake environmentalism. I mean, ask the farmers in Central California about the Delta smelt. The radical environmentalist groups who bully the politicians in the state of California decided that the Delta smelt this tiny little fish in the waterways of California was more important than farmers in central California, which are responsible for a huge amount of food production, being able to properly water their crops. That caused food shortages, that caused people's livelihoods to be upended. But because these environmentalist groups cared more about, not even equally, but more about preserving this tiny fish and not disrupting their ecosystem at all, they were willing to sacrifice these farmers and the people who rely on these farmers for food supply. Look, progressivism kills. It sucks. It causes chaos. And that is why, again, one reason we have to care about politics, why all these conversations matter. It's not just, oh, I don't want to get into politics. I don't want to be divisive. Look, when people's lives are on the line and politics are affecting policy, which affects people's lives, Christians have to care because we understand more than anyone else how much a human life matters. So all that to say, I am really praying for California. I'm praying for God's mercy there. And yes, of course, I'm praying for instant reprieve from these fires. But I am also praying for God's mercy to manifest itself in a change of leadership in California. Like, when will the people there learn that the people that you're voting for actually hate you and the policies that are being implemented are destructive? Maybe not to the billionaires who can just hop on their private jet and go to their home in Montana for a few weeks. But to everyone who doesn't have the ability to do that, and if you really have the compassion that you say that you do, then maybe you'll reevaluate the worldview that you've adopted that has led you to vote for people who are so incredibly awful at their jobs. All right, let's get into some pop culture stuff. Let me pause and tell you about our next sponsor before we get into the rest of this. And that is Cozy Earth. Okay. Why not make Better Sleep a New Year's resolution? I think that that is a great one. We're really thinking about, like getting back to the grind and working harder and waking up earlier when it comes to New Year's resolutions, which might all be good, but all of that is really dependent upon how well we rest and how well we sleep. And you might not think about your sheets being a contributing factor to the quality of your sleep, but they really are. That's why I love my Cozy Earth sheets. They are made from the best, most temperature regulating fabric. They feel luxurious and soft and breezable. Breezable. Maybe that's a new word. I meant to say breathable. But sure, that works too. They're cooling and so they just feel really good. I also love all of my loungewear from Cozy Earth. I get messages from you guys all the time saying that you are hooked on Cozy Earth. Yeah, me too. I love their pajamas, I love their sweatpants, their pullovers. It's all just incredible and owned by really good people too. If you go to cozyearth.com relatable you can use my exclusive code relatable for 40% off. Up to 40% off. Cozyearth.com relatable code relatable foreign let's get into what is going on with Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Bri is going to be joining into this conversation because she actually knew a lot about this before I started looking into it. And so I will lean on her to explain a few things. But let me just tell you what is going on. I will try to keep it as concise as possible. I saw yesterday that I did not make it to under an hour on yesterday's episode, which means I have already lost my New Year's resolution to try to keep every episode under an hour in 2025. But my dad said I could blame it on him. I got my yapping honest. And so the apple didn't far. The apple didn't far fall far from the tree there. But I will try. I'll try to keep this under an hour. I don't think it's going to happen today. Maybe I can just abandon my resolution all together. Okay, so this is what's going on. Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, both actors. I don't. Maybe you know Blake Lively from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants like I do. I think that's the last movie I've seen her in. I don't know. Maybe that was 2004 something. I think that was the perfect role for her. But that's all I really know about Blake Lively's career. Had never heard of Justin Baldoni before all of this. So here's the summary, and then we'll get into the details. And again, I actually think there are significant lessons for us to draw from all of this. Blake Lively is the star of It Ends with Us. This is a movie based on Colleen Hoover's popular novel. And we will link the episode that I did on Colleen Hoover and her books and why I think they're so problematic and why I just think that they make women's brains mush and probably ruin relationships because they are just smut. Very easy to read, but complete and total smut and at the very least, emotional porn, if not actual porn. And there's. There's an argument to be made that even while they are. She is condemning domestic violence, she is almost weirdly glorifying it and romanticizing it in some of these books. Specifically in It Ends with us. I did read this book before I knew anything about Colleen Hoover. So that's what this movie is about. And that context is important, that it's about domestic violence. And the title of the movie and book is supposed to be, look, this curse, this horrible sin of domestic violence is supposed to end with the protagonist of this, which is Blake Lively's character. All right, so A Blake Life. Lively recently filed a lawsuit against her co star in the film and the film's director, Justin Baldoni, alleging sexual harassment, among many other things during the film's production. Baldoni has denied any wrongdoing, has filed a $250 million lawsuit of his own, not against Blake Lively, but against the New York Times for their reporting on the allegations. And his lawyer, big celebrity lawyer who has represented a lot of very powerful celebrities. Brian Friedman has threatened to file a lawsuit against Lively. Both parties accused the other of orchestrating smear campaigns to destroy the other's career and reputation. I will say the only thing I really knew about this going in, going into it, besides what the movie was about, was that Blake Lively started a Few, a few months ago, started having videos of her past interviews going around, or she didn't have them going around, like she didn't post them herself. But other people, people I don't know, just anonymous X users, Tick tock users, started posting these old interviews of Blake Lively where she really comes across as very bratty. And I was wondering, like, why are people posting this now? Some of these are several years old. Is this orchestrated? And I'm not saying that it was, but I have heard more negative things about Blake Lively in the past few months than I had ever heard before. And I did have my own suspicions back then again, before all of this drama, that that was actually purposeful, that that bad press was being put out there by someone who had a bone to pick with her. And so maybe that's a rumbling that you have heard, that you have seen too. And if that's all the context that you have, that's fine because I'm going to fill in the details here. So here again are the key players. We got Blake Lively, 37 years old, played Lily Bloom in the. In the film. We've got Justin Baldoni, director of the film, stars as Ryle Kincaid, Lily's abusive partner. We've got Wayfarer Studios, Baldoni's production company, produced. It Ends with us. Jamie Heath, Justin's producing partner and CEO of Wayfair Studios. Melissa Nathan, Justin's crisis publicist. Leslie Sloan, Blake Lively's publicist. So here's some more background and timeline. It Ends With Us was released on August 9th. It did really well. Grossed $351 million at the time of the movie's release. Baldoni praised Blake Lively as, quote, strong, funny and intelligent. All the things that you want from a female heroine. And then there were few rumors that started circulating right around the time of the release of the movie. This is according to the New York Times. There was social media. There were social media fans who noticed that Baldoni and Lively avoided each other during the film's promotion, that they didn't follow each other on social media. We don't know how Internet sleuths find out the things that they do, but they're. They are basically like professional observers of these kinds of things. People who pay very close attention to everything that celebrities are doing. They're always looking for Easter eggs. They're always looking for connections and theories and all of that kind of thing. And so that's what starts sometimes like some kind of viral conversation. These posts started circulating on different social media platforms. Wait, why don't they actually appear in any of the promotion or marketing of the film together. At first, fans believe that Baldoni was not posing for cameras with his co stars as a marketing tactic because he plays an abusive husband. And so maybe they were afraid that it wouldn't be as believable if they were all buddy, buddy off camera. However, Internet sleuths also noticed that the stars no longer and still don't follow each other on social media, with many of the film's cast following Lively, but not Baldoni. Colleen Hoover also no longer follows Baldoni. And Ryan Reynolds blocked Baldoni months before the film's release, according to texts from Baldoni's team, which we may talk about in just a little bit if we have time. The drama was fueled by reports of conflict during the making of the film, all by anonymous sources from production. Hollywood Reporter reports that there was a fracture among the filmmakers and the post production process were. Two different cuts of the movie emerged. TMZ reported that the problems between them allegedly arose after Blake felt, quote, unquote, fat shamed. We'll get into that. By Justin on set while they were preparing for a scene that saw him lift her off the ground. Fans also noticed that Baldoni and Lively did not interact at the premiere for the film. This is from Daily Mail. It ends with us. Fans are convinced there's a huge feud between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Here's why. And of course they were right. And we've got pictures of this. We've got pictures of of Blake Lively posing with her husband, Ryan Reynolds with another co star. We've got another picture of Blake Lively with another co star, but did not appear in any pictures with Justin Baldoni. And then there was also. This is a screenshot from the promo video where you've got Blake Lively and three of co stars. You do not see Justin Baldoni there, which I think is very strange. All of the interviews that she did, she did not do with him. Not only because he is the co star. Is this strange that she didn't do any interviews with him, but also because he is the director. You would have thought that they would have if they had a good relationship, come together and tried to promote the film together, but they really didn't. Around this time, Baldoni hired crisis management and PR professional Melissa Nathan. I guess because of the rumor circulating, oh, this doesn't look good. Why don't people follow Baldoni? Is he really a bad guy? And he was like, I'm going to get out ahead of this. I'm just surmising Here. And I'm going to hire this crisis management publicist, Melissa Nathan. Lots of previous clients, including Johnny Depp during his successful defamation trial against Amber Heard. And just like looking at that, I would say that Melissa Nathan did a, an effective job because by the end of that, I think most public opinion was against Amber Heard and in favor of Johnny Depp. Again, I don't know exactly what role she played in the Internet's opinions, but I'm sure if she is a stealth publicist, she had quite a significant role in that Also around this time though, people started criticizing Blake Lively. Lively is known for her upbeat and kind of witty demeanor. Very like likable girl next door. And yet people were saying around the release of this film that Lively seemed extremely tone deaf in her promotion, like very aloof. And a lot of the interviews that I alluded to from the past that people started circulating online, that's how she comes across. She comes across as very aloof. And to be quite honest, she comes across in those interviews, a couple of them will play clips from, as extremely self absorbed. And so that's what people started to say online. She was seen promoting both the movie about domestic violence and at the same time, her cocktail brand, Betty Buzz, at a pop up shop in Chelsea. The New York Times wrote about this saying, it's a cheery gimmick that seems awkwardly out of step within the context of the film itself, which tells the story of a woman dealing with domestic violence. And you can see this picture right here. So here she is in Chelsea. The reason why people thought that this was problematic is because she is combining her promotion of her cocktail company with the promotion of the movie. So her company is called Betty Buzz, her cocktail company. And in the movie Lily, the character that she plays owns a flower shop and her name is Lily Bloom. And so it's a play on that. And so you can see here her, the little cart that she is using to promote both things is called Betty Blooms. So it's a play all together. And people just thought that that was a strange marketing gimmick given the gravity of the subject of the movie. I don't know, I, I'm not, I'm not really sure about that. I'm not sure whether or not that is tone deaf. Maybe so. But I could see the argument of saying, well, it's a movie and it is kind of just like a. I won't call it like a rom com, but it is, even though it's a serious subject that the book is about, it is marketed as like this like light reading for women who don't want to think very hard as they are reading. Like it's not War and Peace. Of course domestic violence is serious, but that's kind of like Colleen Hoover's thing is she writes about some serious subjects, but in a way that is very romantic, in a way that is kind of like light hearted and very easy readism. So I'm not totally sure if Blake Lively is at fault for something like. Something like this. I don't know if necessarily it means that she doesn't actually care about domestic violence. Maybe you could argue that for other reasons. I don't know if this is a great example of that. Social media responded when news emerged that Blake's Betty Buzz company had provided ends with us themed cocktails for the film's premiere after party, including one called Rile you wait, named after the character in the film who throws his wife down the stairs. Now that I would say is maybe a little far. Okay, that I can agree is weird. That's weird. Like to in a funny way, in some kind of like endearing way name specifically an alcoholic drink which is known to exacerbate the problem of. So maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was wrong in my whole assessment that I just told you. I don't know. I'm kind of thinking about this as I go. But this puts a finer point on it to promote alcohol when you are also seemingly kind of glorifying the antagonist abuser in the movie. Yeah, I don't know. It's weird. It does seem like you are trivializing the. The whole issue. So I'm debating with myself and you are welcome to give your thoughts in the YouTube comments. There are some comments under the Instagram post where she posted that. Is your company at least making a donation to an organization helping victims of domestic violence. Just cute cocktails and marketing. Someone else said people with alcohol issues are six times more likely to abuse their partners. I think that is. That is a great point that I didn't think about when I first started talking about the whole Betty Buzz Betty Bloom thing. Promoting a film with such a powerful DV theme, domestic violence theme with an alcohol brand is disappointed. Disrespectful of domestic domestic violence survivors. Yeah, I get that perspective and I think that is. That's true. That's fair. Let me pause and tell you about our next sponsor. That is good ranchers. We love good ranchers in our home. It's all American meat from all American farmers. They've got a great deal going on right when you subscribe. So get that box of all American meat, beef, chicken, seafood, all that good stuff to your front door on dry ice every month. You also get one meat for free for an entire year. So you can pick the package of meat that you like better or the better than organic chicken that is either pre marinated or not. The kind of beef that you want, the kind of seafood that you want. They'll add that to your box for free every year. Plus when you use my code ALI, you get 25 off your order. That is goodranchers.com/ally code ally for 25 off good ranchers.com Alli Another thing that the audience is saying was tone daft was that the it ends with us. TikTok page also released a promo where Lively and Colleen Hoover, the author of the book, said grab your friends and wear your florals. Here they are. Saw one. Hello, Blake Lively here, Colleen Hoover. And it ends with us is in theaters now. So grab your friends, wear your florals. I don't know. I don't think that that was that bad. Bree, do you disagree with me?
- [36:33]
I mean, in general I think people are overreacting a little bit because it's a movie. But yeah, I think it's a tiny bit insensitive because it's not, it's not a rom com. I see your point that like it's kind of marketed as one. The book is at least in the sense that like she does fall in love, I guess at the end. I haven't read it, but. But I mean, grab your friends and your florals is a little bit like you're going to watch a rom com. I don't know. Yeah, I know, I know. I heard people go to this movie who did not know what it was about, who thought it was just a rom com and they got in and were like, oh yeah, yeah, right.
- [37:19]
It's not the Proposal.
- [37:20]
No.
- [37:21]
With Ryan Reynolds, which by the way, like one of my favorite rom coms.
- [37:26]
So good.
- [37:27]
Makes me laugh out loud. That is a rom com. Sweet home Alabama is a rom com.
- [37:33]
Unknown
Yep.
- [37:34]
Bri Stuckey
This I, I guess it's. It's not, it's not a comedy. It's romantic, but it's not funny and light hearted. But again, I think that is like the. That is Colleen Hoover. That's her brand. Like all of her stuff is marketed as kind of light and airy, but a lot of it has to do with really deep and dark issues that aren't presented, by the way, always in like, hey, this is really deep and dark. You should seek help, and certainly not in a gospel centered way. But it is kind of like you fall in love. She wants you to, like, fall in love and be sexually attracted to the abusive character before you learn that he's abused. Like. And I get that's what a secular author would do, but I think it's problematic in that way. And that's why the marketing is confused. Cause Colleen Hoover is confused.
- [38:26]
I will say also, this is her first adaptation. They're adapting a bunch of her books now, but this is the first one. And I think there aren't a lot of other authors, at least popular authors, who are doing that exact thing. Not that she's groundbreaking, but just the tone is kind of unique to her. And I think they have now figured out that they can't be marketed like this.
- [38:46]
Okay, so do you think it was tone deaf or do you think it was purposeful? Like, if they, like, opened up each commercial, like, I don't know, the beginning of Law and Order svu, people weren't probably going to go.
- [39:00]
Yeah.
- [39:00]
I mean, don't you think they wanted people like you and me to go? And they. It could have been more strategic that they also realized that people really just want light hearted romantic comedies and they wanted people to walk into the theater and not know what it was gonna be because if they told everyone it was about abuse, they wouldn't go.
- [39:17]
Yeah, no, I think that's absolutely what it was. I don't. I would say it's still kind of tone deaf because I don't think they expected people to have the backlash.
- [39:27]
To care.
- [39:27]
Yeah, yeah. To care as much as they did. But I agree with you. I think that was the strategy for sure.
- [39:33]
Yeah.
- [39:33]
Yeah.
- [39:35]
Interestingly, it was Baldoni who said, I don't really want to do the whole, like, rom com promotion thing now. So he wasn't a part of all of that. The lightheartedness about it, which made him come across like wall. See, I really care about domestic violence, which maybe was genuine, but also could have been strategic.
- [39:57]
Well, he has claimed that he got the rights to this because he went direct. He read the book. He went directly to Colleen Hoover and said, I have to make this because I care so much about the subject matter. And that's why he ultimately bought the property. And so he has kind of a history of making it known that he does care about this. Again, I don't know how genuine it is, but he comes across as being genuine about it. And even in the text exchanges, he.
- [40:24]
Calls himself a male feminist.
- [40:25]
Oh, he totally does. Yeah. But in the text exchanges that he released, to be fair, he released them, they do come across as pretty sincere. He's even talking about when he gets slighted, which I guess we can talk about later by Blake, that, that he, you know, the thing that really matters is that women are seeing this and can see themselves in this movie. So, you know, I don't know. He comes across as sincere.
- [40:51]
I will say. Yeah, and, and maybe he is. We just have no. The thing is we don't know who is being sincere and earnest and who is just being strategic and cynical. And maybe it's a combination of both. On both sides. Yeah, it typically is something like that. If you are a business owner, then you need to listen up. Net Suite is going to make your life so much easier, your business so much more efficient, and consequently more successful. NetSuite by Oracle is the number one cloud ERP that brings accounting, financial management, inventory, HR into one fluid platform. With one unified business management suite, there's one source of truth giving you the visibility and control you need to make quick decisions. You are closing your books in days rather than weeks, and so you can spend your valuable time doing the things that you both need and want to do. Whether you've got a big business or a small business, net suite can really help you. Download the CFO's guide to AI and machine learning at netsuite.com/ally. The guide is free at netsuite.com ally. All right, that concludes today's episode. It's all we have time for. And so tomorrow we will be back with part two with so much more on this. You don't want to miss it. See you then.