Blake Lively Hears From Jana Kramer, Whose Ex-Husband Tried To Kill Her

Singer and actress Jana Kramer, who survived a brutal marriage to a man who was sent to prison for attempting to kill her, is speaking out about the Blake Lively "It Ends With Us" movie drama. 

On her "Whine Down" podcast, Kramer addressed Lively, the promotion of the movie and how all of this ties into her life where she found herself in 2005 when her ex-husband Michael Gambino choked her unconscious. 

"I would love the messaging to go to DV with media, instead of talking about riffs and everything else. The movie is about domestic violence," Kramer said on the podcast that was released Monday. "I haven’t seen the movie. I have a tough time watching movies that deal with domestic violence given my history with it."

Based on the promotion of the movie, Kramer believed "It Ends With Us" was a "rom-com, bring your girls to the movie[s]" flick based on how Lively was promoting it, which has included booze tie-ins and flower dresses on very happy red carpets.  

Jana Kramer attends the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas. (Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images)

Kramer takes exception with Lively's ‘not defined' comment

In early August, Blake Lively talked about her character in the movie during a red carpet appearance and declared that the fictional character, Lily, was "not defined" by her domestic violence experiences during her relationship with neurosurgeon Ryle, played by male feminist Justin Baldoni. 

"I really feel like we delivered a story that’s emotional and it’s fun, but also funny, painful, scary, tragic and it’s inspiring," Lively told the BBC reporter. 

Kramer, like many women TikTok women who've been screaming at Lively, disagrees with this assessment.

"It’s hard for people to talk about domestic violence when they haven’t, themselves, been, in real life, had the hands of domestic violence on them. So, for people to say it doesn’t define you, it does define you, it has made me who I am. And though people can say, ‘It doesn’t define you,’ it is one of the biggest pieces of me, is domestic violence, and has been the biggest thread in my life."

Kramer's ex-husband was eventually sentenced to six years in prison. He was released in 2010 and committed suicide two years later. 

Now married to former Scottish soccer player Allan Russell, Kramer is the mother of three children and the author of the 2023 book "The Next Chapter: Making Peace with Hard Memories, Finding Hope All Around Me, and Clearing Space for Good Things To Come." 

As for Lively, she has remained quiet on social media since the backlash over her movie promoting techniques. She was spotted over the weekend hunkered down at her 37th birthday party hosted by Taylor Swift and attended by a bunch of A-listers. 

If you or someone you know are experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.