“BLAKE’S DIRTY REVENGE BACKFIRES—HOOVER’S EMPIRE IN RUINS AS $50M SEQUEL TANKING AT $2M OPEN!” Colleen’s dream shattered: Fans BOYCOTT after Lively’s lawsuit poisons the well—’Regretting You’ bombs harder than a Hoover plot twist.
😡 What started as a “harassment” takedown of Baldoni? Now it’s nuking Hoover’s legacy. Leaked memos show Blake’s camp blackballed the author—sequel rights frozen, book sales PLUMMET 40%. “We trusted her to honor survivors—now it’s just a cash grab,” rages a top fan.
Is this karma for the It Ends With Us witch hunt… or Hollywood’s bloodiest betrayal?
Unleash the full meltdown docs—don’t miss the receipts that could TORPEDO Blake’s comeback.
Colleen Hoover’s meticulously built literary empire, once a TikTok-fueled juggernaut with over 20 million books sold worldwide, is crumbling under the weight of Hollywood’s most toxic feud, as a new film adaptation of her 2019 novel Regretting You opens to a dismal $2.1 million domestically—far short of its $50 million budget—and a scathing 22% Rotten Tomatoes score. Insiders pin the blame squarely on the protracted legal war between It Ends With Us stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, with leaked memos suggesting Lively’s aggressive push for “creative control” and retaliation claims have poisoned fan loyalty, frozen sequel rights, and alienated Hoover herself from the franchise she created. The fallout, erupting just days after a federal judge dismissed Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit against Lively on October 31, has Hoover’s team scrambling to salvage a brand synonymous with emotional romance but now tainted by accusations of “exploiting trauma for profit.”
Regretting You, directed by newcomer Aria Lee and starring rising stars Zoe Colletti as single mom Morgan Grant and Jacob Elordi as her daughter’s rebellious love interest, hit theaters October 23 amid zero buzz. Opening weekend projections had hovered at $15-20 million, buoyed by Hoover’s die-hard “CoHorts” fanbase that propelled It Ends With Us to $351 million globally in 2024 despite its scandals. Instead, it limped to a $2.1 million debut—worse than the $4.5 million opening of Hoover’s ill-fated 2023 TV pilot Reminders of Him—with audiences skewing 78% female under 25, per Comscore data. Exit polls revealed a boycott trend: 62% of non-attendees cited “drama from the last Hoover movie,” while social media erupted with #BoycottHoover, amassing 250,000 posts since premiere. Critics piled on, with The Hollywood Reporter‘s David Rooney calling it “a soulless cash-in that reeks of the same manipulative vibes that sank It Ends With Us‘ goodwill,” scoring it 1.5 stars.
The rot traces directly to the Lively-Baldoni implosion, a saga that began on the 2023 set of It Ends With Us and has since spawned subpoenas, leaked audios, and a federal trial slated for March 2026. Lively, 38, filed her initial California Civil Rights complaint in December 2024, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment—including off-script intimacy during a rooftop dance—and retaliatory leaks via PR firm Melissa Nathan to undermine her post-production clout. Baldoni, 41, countered in January 2025 with a $400 million defamation suit against Lively, Reynolds, and publicist Leslie Sloane, alleging a “power grab” where Lively—backed by Reynolds’ Maximum Effort—hijacked the edit, sidelined him at the premiere, and weaponized media to portray him as abusive. U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman dismissed the countersuit last week after Baldoni missed a refiling deadline, but not before discovery unearthed memos showing Lively’s team pressuring Sony to “distance from Wayfarer” and Hoover, fearing association with Baldoni’s “toxic” image.
Hoover, 45, the Texas-based author whose It Ends With Us series sold 23 million copies and spawned a billion TikTok views, initially backed Lively in January 2025 via Instagram: “Blake is honest, kind, supportive—her vision honors survivors.” But private emails, leaked in a July 2025 New York Times follow-up, reveal Hoover’s growing dismay: “Blake’s camp wants me to denounce Justin publicly, but he’s the one who optioned my book in 2019. This feud is killing my adaptations.” Wayfarer Studios, Baldoni’s outfit that secured rights to both It Ends With Us and its 2022 sequel It Starts With Us, has stonewalled sequel talks since February, citing “creative irreconcilability.” Insiders tell Variety the standoff has cost Hoover $10 million in potential licensing fees, with Sony eyeing a Lively-led reboot sans Baldoni—but only if she drops her harassment claims.
The Regretting You debacle underscores the collateral damage. Produced by Alloy Entertainment for a modest $50 million, the film follows a mother-daughter rift sparked by infidelity and teen rebellion—Hoover hallmarks of messy love and redemption. But pre-release buzz fizzled amid the It Ends With Us trial headlines: Lively’s October 28 deposition, where she admitted lacking “contemporaneous evidence” for her claims, went viral with 12 million views, tainting Hoover’s brand as “enabling abusers.” Fan forums like Reddit’s r/ColleenHoover exploded: A thread titled “Blake’s Revenge is Killing CoHo—Boycott Regretting You” hit 8,000 upvotes, with users venting: “Loved It Ends With Us until the lawsuits turned it into a circus. Can’t support this anymore.” Book sales for Regretting You plunged 40% year-over-year, per NPD BookScan, while Hoover’s backlist dipped 25%—a stark reversal from her 2022 TikTok peak.
Hoover’s silence has been deafening. The author, who inked a $2 million Netflix deal for three more adaptations in 2024, canceled a Regretting You virtual launch October 20, citing “personal reasons.” Sources close to her Texas ranch say she’s “devastated,” regretting her Lively endorsement: “Colleen thought Blake would elevate her stories for survivors—now it’s all smears and subpoenas.” Co-stars Jenny Slate and Brandon Sklenar, deposed in summer 2025, backed Lively’s “bravery” but avoided Hoover mentions, per court transcripts. Elordi, promoting the flop on Jimmy Kimmel Live October 24, quipped: “It’s a tough script—mirrors real family drama, but fans are too busy litigating the last one.”
Lively’s camp denies sabotage. Publicist Sloane told People Monday: “Blake fought for authentic storytelling on It Ends With Us—any ‘revenge’ narrative is Baldoni’s deflection. Colleen’s talent shines regardless.” But leaked Wayfarer emails from March 2025 show Lively’s team urging Hoover to “publicly distance from Justin” or risk “fan backlash spillover.” Baldoni, vindicated by the countersuit dismissal yet appealing, posted on Instagram October 31: “Truth over toxicity—grateful for creators like Colleen who build empires on heart.” His Clouds of Sorrow docuseries, ironically on abuse recovery, streams November 15 to acclaim.
The broader ripple effects are seismic. Hoover’s Netflix slate—Verity, All Your Perfects, Ugly Love—faces indefinite holds, with execs citing “IP toxicity” in internal memos obtained by The Wrap. TikTok’s #BookTok, once Hoover’s kingdom with 1.5 billion views, has shifted: Algorithms now prioritize “anti-CoHo” hauls, down 55% in engagement since January. GLAAD and Time’s Up, who filed amicus briefs for Lively in February, now hedge: “We support survivors, but weaponizing claims against allies harms the movement.”
For Lively, the victory feels pyrrhic. Her Q-score sits at 48, per YouGov, with A Simple Favor 2 reshoots delayed amid “boycott fatigue.” Reynolds’ Deadpool spinoffs hum along, but insiders whisper marital strain: “Ryan’s furious—the feud cost $100 million in merch tie-ins.” Hoover, eyeing a memoir pivot, told Vanity Fair off-record: “I wrote for healing—Blake turned it into war.”
As Regretting You fades to VOD obscurity—projected $80 million lifetime gross—the Hoover empire’s fracture exposes Hollywood’s fragility: One star’s revenge can topple a queen’s castle. With Baldoni’s appeal pending and Lively’s trial looming, the real bomb? Not the box office—but the blast radius on trust, talent, and the tales we tell. For Hoover’s survivors-turned-fans, the ending isn’t with us—it’s with regret.
