Blake Lively’s Brother-In-Law Bart Johnson Defends Her Amid ‘It Ends With Us’ Controversy

Blake Lively’s brother-in-law is coming to her defense in the midst of the . The actress has been getting into some hot water lately following the press tour for the Colleen Hoover adaptation, which explores generational domestic violence. Lively has been putting much of the focus on her fashion and new hair care line during the press tour, and not putting much thought into questions surrounding the main and very sensitive theme.

After defending her younger sister, Robyn Lively’s own husband of 25 years, High School Musical star Bart Johnson is doing the same. Via Entertainment Tonight, Johnson replied to a comment on his birthday post for Blake that shamed the Gossip Girl alum for “promoting happiness in a domestic violence setting without any regard for the victim.” Johnson stuck up for his sister-in-law, saying that she’s the reason the message was getting out.

“Blake worked harder on this film than anything I’ve seen her do my entire life,” Johnson wrote. “Because it meant so much to her. The message is in the book. And in the movie. Not in short clips / interviews. She is the reason the message / this movie/ is getting out.” In his birthday post for Blake, Johnson shared that Blake’s dad gave him a job teaching his teenage acting class, and was introduced to a young Blake years before meeting her sister, and eventual wife.

Johnson and Robyn got married in 1999 and have three children together. He occasionally shows support for Blake on his social media, promoting It Ends With Us and even sharing a video of his wife and kids at the, which he couldn’t attend due to being in Montana and “maybe/maybe wasn’t shooting Yellowstone.”

Directed by Justin Baldoni and based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover, It Ends With Us follows Blake Lively’s Lily Bloom, who moves to Boston to open a flower shop. After meeting neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid, the two have an instant spark and intense connection, but she sees a side of Ryle that reminds her of her parents’ relationship. Baldoni also stars in the film as Ryle, but he missed most of the press tour and had been doing interviews by himself, where he’s been putting most of the attention on domestic violence. It only adds on to the controversy surrounding the film, but it is safe to say that the It Ends With Us press tour did not go the way people initially thought.