Nickelodeon Alum Blasts Blake Lively Over ‘Shameful’ Choice in ‘It Ends With Us’

Former Nickelodeon star Alexa Nikolas has publicly criticized Blake Lively and the production team behind the film adaptation of It Ends With Us for a controversial musical choice. The inclusion of a song by Nikolas’s ex-husband, Mike Milosh, in the soundtrack has sparked outrage over its use.

Nikolas, best known for her role in Zoey 101, took to Instagram on Aug. 21 to voice her dismay. In a scathing post, she wrote, “I can’t say enough how disappointed I am in [Blake Lively] and [It Ends With Us] — not only has your rollout of this film been a complete disaster and shame but you also put my known abuser/gr00mer’s music in your film.”

The 32-year-old actress’s accusations against Milosh, 48, stem from a tumultuous history. Nikolas claims that Milosh began grooming her when she was just 16 years old while he was 33. Their relationship, which began on MySpace, allegedly turned sexual shortly after initial contact. Nikolas added in her post, “There is physical evidence of him grooming me when he was 33 and I was 16. It’s easily accessible on the internet sadly since I had to also take on the emotional labor of exposing RHYE with evidence.”

In 2021, Nikolas filed a lawsuit against Milosh, accusing him of sexual abuse, assault, and grooming. Court documents alleged that Milosh “terrorized, sodomized, and abused” her, utilizing “his power of authority and seniority” to manipulate her. The lawsuit stated, per Daily Mail, “He utilized his power of authority and seniority over [Alexa], as well as years of sexual grooming of [Alexa] as a minor child, to manipulate her into trusting him.”

Nikolas later voluntarily dropped the lawsuit in 2022, with Milosh countersuing for what he claimed was a “frivolous lawsuit without legal basis or factual support.”

Milosh has vehemently denied all allegations, describing them as “outrageously false” and “manipulated stories provably untrue.” In a statement to Rolling Stone, he said, “For as long as I can remember, I’ve always strongly supported women and their right to speak out and be heard. That is why the false claims made by my former wife had been so hurtful and shocking to me.”

The controversy surrounding It Ends With Us extends beyond the musical selection. The film, based on Colleen Hoover’s novel, follows a woman named Lily Bloom (played by Lively) who becomes entangled in an abusive relationship. Including a song by an alleged abuser in a film about domestic violence has not gone unnoticed by critics and fans.

Lively, who serves as both the star and producer of the film, has faced intense scrutiny for her handling of the movie’s sensitive themes during the press tour. In one particularly controversial moment, Lively’s sarcastic response to a question about how domestic violence victims could approach her about the film’s subject matter drew widespread criticism.

The actress further fueled speculation by hosting a lighthearted interview with her co-stars and the book’s author, where they discussed trivial topics without addressing the film’s serious subject matter. This decision was met with backlash on social media, prompting Lively to later share resources about domestic violence on her Instagram.

Nikolas’s post has reignited the debate surrounding the film, with many questioning the decision-making process behind the soundtrack. As a producer, Lively was reportedly heavily involved in the film’s musical choices, even advocating for specific songs to be included, according to Daily Mail.

The inclusion of Milosh’s music, under his stage name Rhye, in a film about escaping an abusive relationship has been deemed particularly insensitive given the public nature of Nikolas’s allegations. “It was also a very public lawsuit that goes into great detail what he did to me. Shame on this film,” Nikolas stated in her Instagram post.