Colleen Hoover returns to Instagram amid Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni drama

Colleen Hoover has returned to social media after deactivating her Instagram account on January 22.

Along with her return, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, who starred in the book's movie version, are no longer featured in the author's profile on It Ends with Us.

Her decision to withdraw from the social media site amid the ongoing legal dispute between Lively, 37, and Baldoni, 41, was followed by her return on February 12.

In the movie, which follows an abusive relationship, Lively plays Lily Bloom and Baldoni plays Ryle Kincaid, her boyfriend. The film, which was directed by Baldoni and was based on Hoover's best-selling 2016 book, debuted in theatres in August 2024.

On December 20, 2024, four months after the movie's premiere, Lively filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni, alleging that he had committed misbehaviour while the film was being made.

Before shooting started after two strikes in Hollywood, the A Simple Favour actress also met with Baldoni and several of the film's producers, with husband Ryan Reynolds acting as her agent, according to her lawsuit. 

According to the complaint, Baldoni later engaged crisis publicists to launch a vindictive smear campaign against her after his production firm accepted the safeguards.

Hoover shared a sympathetic Instagram story the day after Lively submitted her complaint.

"@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."

Lively's claims have been refuted by Baldoni ever since the original complaint. He sued The New York Times for $250 million on December 31, 2024, claiming libel, false light invasion of privacy, promissory fraud, and violation of implied-in-fact contract about an article published by the publication on December 21 titled We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.