TikTok star slams Blake Lively for promoting 'It Ends With Us' as a romantic film

In a TikTok video that has garnered four million views, US woman Ashley Paige launched a fierce criticism of Hollywood actor Blake Lively for the way she has promoted her new film, It Ends With Us, which is based on a novel about a woman experiencing domestic abuse.

Critics argue that the film has been marketed as a romance, with the one-minute trailer failing to reveal the abuse aspect, and that Lively's focus on fashion and flowers at the film's premiere is a missed opportunity for advocacy.

Ms Paige accuses Lively of promoting the film as if it were “the sequel to Barbie,” as reported by BBC.

Lively's somewhat awkward remarks during promotional interviews have sparked conversations about how to discuss victims and how survivors of domestic abuse might relate to the portrayal.

The film is based on Colleen Hoover's best-selling novel. In it, Lively plays a florist named Lily Bloom who falls deeply in love with a surgeon; their initially thrilling romance eventually turns abusive. The story includes several intense scenes, including an attempted rape.

Lively, known for her role on Gossip Girl and her successful acting career, is one of the most marketable stars of the past decade. She is a regular at the Met Gala, friends with Taylor Swift, and with husband Ryan Reynolds forms one of Hollywood's power couples, involved in their own production company and various off-screen ventures.

Ms Paige, who resides in Colorado with her young daughter and is a survivor of abuse herself, now campaigns on the issue.

“My life story is very reminiscent of [Lively’s character] Lily Bloom’s," she told the BBC. "I had a daughter with my abuser and we ran.”

But she is frustrated by how Lively has discussed the character.