Colleen Hoover has returned to Instagram after deactivating her account on Jan. 22.
Along with her return, the It Ends with Us author’s profile no longer features photos of Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni — the stars of the film adaptation of the book.
Her Feb. 12 comeback follows her decision to step back from the social media platform amid the current legal battle between Lively, 37, and Baldoni, 41.
Lively starred as Lily Bloom, and Baldoni starred as her boyfriend, Ryle Kincaid, in the film that chronicles an abusive relationship. The movie, based on Hoover’s best-selling 2016 novel and directed by Baldoni, hit theaters in August 2024.
Four months after the film’s release, on Dec. 20, 2024, Lively filed a sexual-harassment complaint against Baldoni, in which she alleged that he engaged in misconduct during the film’s production.
Additionally, per her complaint, the A Simple Favor star met with Baldoni and several of the film’s producers, alongside husband Ryan Reynolds as her representative, to establish protections before production resumed following two Hollywood strikes. The complaint alleged that after his production company agreed to the protections, Baldoni later hired crisis publicists to begin a retaliatory smear campaign against her.
The day after Lively filed her complaint, Hoover posted a supportive Instagram Story.
“@blakelively, you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met,” Hoover wrote alongside a photo of herself and Lively hugging at a screening of the film. “Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.”
Since the initial complaint, Baldoni has denied Lively’s allegations. On Dec. 31, 2024, he filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times alleging libel, false light invasion of privacy, promissory fraud and breach of implied-in-fact contract regarding a Dec. 21 article from the outlet titled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.”
On Jan. 6, Lively’s legal team told PEOPLE in a statement that her “serious claims of sexual harassment and retaliation” are “backed by concrete facts.” The following day, Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman told PEOPLE on behalf of his client that they are “releasing all of the evidence which will show a pattern of bullying and threats to take over” the film.
Baldoni countered Lively’s initial claim with a $400 million lawsuit against her on Jan. 16, Reynolds and their publicist, claiming defamation, extortion and more.
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On Feb. 1, Baldoni’s lawyer launched a website with what Freedman said was evidence of his client’s accusations against Lively. The judge warned both parties to refrain from litigating the case in the public forum in pre-trial conference on Feb. 3.
Their trial is scheduled to begin on March 9, 2026, a date set by Judge Lewis J. Liman.
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