Colleen Hoover, the author behind “It Ends with Us,” has openly addressed the ongoing and contentious legal dispute involving Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively, describing it as both “unfortunate” and “disappointing.”

Last December, Blake Lively filed a significant lawsuit against 41-year-old Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios, and others. The suit alleges sexual harassment, retaliatory actions, and intentional infliction of emotional distress during the filming of the movie adaptation of Hoover’s novel.

In light of this legal confrontation, Hoover expressed feeling “almost embarrassed” about having authored the book.

“It feels like a circus,” the 45-year-old author shared with ELLE on Thursday.

Hoover continued, “When genuine people with real emotions are involved, it truly has had a significant impact on some of the actors’ careers. It’s just an all-around sad situation.”

She further remarked, “The situation has grown so large that no one can say anything to alter people’s opinions, especially since the full truth isn’t known. Not even by me.”

It Ends with Us author Colleen Hoover broke her silence on the ‘unfortunate’ and ‘disappointing’ legal war between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively  – pictured with Lively in August 2024 

The married mother-of-three was the first one to receive backlash over her 2016 bestseller for ‘romanticizing’ the real-life domestic violence her mother Vannoy Fite suffered at the hands of her father Eddie Fennell – Baldoni and Lively pictured in the 2024 film

The married mother-of-three was the first one to receive backlash over her 2016 bestseller for ‘romanticizing’ the real-life domestic violence her mother Vannoy Fite suffered at the hands of her father Eddie Fennell.

‘I respect that people have passionate opinions about it, but I would not change a thing because that was my mother’s experience,’ Hoover admitted.

I learned a lot from the criticism, but it doesn’t change the fact that this was one woman’s story. I’m not trying to say, all abusers are this way, or all victims are this way.’

She added: ‘The book was inspired by [my mother’s] story, and now it gives us PTSD to think about it. I feel awful because I almost feel like she’s gone through more with the aftermath of this film, more pain than she went through with my dad, just seeing the ugliness of it.’

In hindsight, Hoover wouldn’t write It Ends with Us because she would ‘be too worried about the scrutiny.’

‘I can’t even recommend it anymore. I feel like [the lawsuit] has overshadowed it,’ Hoover stated.

‘I’m almost embarrassed to say I wrote it. When people ask what I do, I’m just like, “I’m a writer. Please don’t ask me what I wrote.’

Baldoni’s production company Wayfarer Studios purchased the rights to the former CPS staffer’s book in 2019, and they faced more backlash in January 2023 when the announced the casting of Lively as the protagonist Lily Bloom.

The florist was supposed to be 23 and the Gossip Girl alum was a 35-year-old mother-of-four at the time, and Hoover’s Facebook group CoHorts expressed their outrage.

Hoover told ELLE she was ‘completely unaware that anything was happening’ between Baldoni and Lively – who’s accused him of sexual harassment and a hostile workplace – as she only spent four days on set, including her cameo in a party scene.

However, Lively revealed Hoover was in the editing room with her as she cut her own version of It Ends with Us after leveraging control of the Sony Pictures flick by threatening to pull out of promoting the movie.

The 45-year-old writer told ELLE on Thursday: ‘It feels like a circus. When there are real people involved, with real feelings and emotions. This actually truly has impacted some of the actors’ careers in huge ways. And I just find it all around sad’

Hoover added: ‘I feel like it’s so big at this point that there’s nothing anyone can say to change whatever opinion people have of it, even though no one has the actual truth. Not even me’ (pictured in 2024)

In hindsight, Hoover wouldn’t write It Ends with Us because she would ‘be too worried about the scrutiny,’ saying: ‘I can’t even recommend it anymore. I feel like [the lawsuit] has overshadowed it. I’m almost embarrassed to say I wrote it’

‘[Colleen] is such a great filmmaker you know she was really able to separate herself as the author and sit in that edit room and go, like, “Okay I know that I wrote this in the book but, like, what if? What if it happened this way instead?”‘ the Another Simple Plan star told Access Hollywood last year.

‘Because for the film, its its own piece of art and we’re still capturing everything that’s in the book, but it’s just tweaking this or that. So she really is just an incredible storyteller. So to be able to have been on this journey with you has been really, really great.’

It was at this time, in the summer of 2024 when Hoover and much of the cast stopped following Baldoni on Instagram and shunned him from the publicity tour and premiere where he was notoriously banished to the basement of the AMC Lincoln Square Theater in Manhattan.

Hoover was under the mistaken impression that she would be able to get back the rights to her 2022-penned sequel, It Starts with Us, and make the movie with Lively.

‘I mean if Colleen has the rights, I’ll go anywhere. I’ll follow this woman anywhere,’ the Betty Booze founder told CNN Brasil last year.

‘Y’all heard her!’ Hoover replied.

She now understands ‘that’s 100 percent completely my fault’ telling ELLE: ‘But after that, I decided not to sell anymore.’

Hoover is pictured with stars Lively, Brandon Sklenar and Isabela Ferrer in June 2024

It was at this time, in the summer of 2024 when Hoover and much of the cast stopped following Baldoni on Instagram and shunned him from the publicity tour and premiere where he was notoriously banished to the basement of the AMC Lincoln Square Theater in Manhattan 

Lively and Baldoni are scheduled to face off in Manhattan US District Court for a sexual harassment and defamation trial beginning March 2026, but the general public have already sided with him.

Last June, Judge Lewis Liman made the controversial decision to dismiss both of Baldoni’s $400M and $250M libel lawsuits against Lively, Reynolds, publicist Leslie Sloane and the New York Times.

Last month, Josh Boone’s big-screen adaptation of Hoover’s 2019 book Regretting You was savaged by critics yet still became a commercial success grossing $82.8 million from a $30 million budget.

The Heartbones Entertainment founder has big-screen adaptations in the works for Reminders of Him due out next March and Verity due out next October.

Hoover’s next book Woman Down – her darkest tale yet – drops January 13 and she has two more books in the works called One Good Reason and One Bad Reason centering on brothers.

‘I absolutely agree [that I’m overrated]. I feel like I’ve gotten into this career so accidentally,’ Hoover told ELLE.

‘And as big as it’s gotten, I’ve never made an effort to get here. Because I just am very much confused by it. I don’t get it, because I’ve read my books. I’m not some highbrow literary writer. I write just fun books that are easy reads. And so sometimes I’m like, “What is happening?”‘

Hoover – who was raised poor in a trailer park – has sold 50 million books and penned 24 novels in 10 years.