'It Ends With Us' Star Brandon Sklenar Defends Blake Lively Amid 'Vilifying' Rumors

Blake Lively 's "It Ends With Us" costar Brandon Sklenar is coming to her defense ... slamming the ongoing gossip about the actress, which has painted her in a negative light.

Brandon addressed the drama Tuesday head on, calling for a ceasefire in the "vilifying" narrative against Blake, "It Ends With Us" author Colleen Hoover , and other women in the cast.

As Brandon put it ... hating on the women of "It Ends With Us" defeats the purpose of the film, which features Blake's character, Lily Bloom, navigating an abusive relationship.

On his Instagram post, he continued ... "It's been disheartening to see the amount of negativity being projected online."

Blake has been embroiled in a number of controversies recently, particularly as rumors of a feud between herself and the film's costar/director Justin Baldoni picked up steam.

Brandon notably avoided addressing the feud rumors directly in his statement, saying only ... "What may or may not have happened behind the scenes does not and hopefully should not detract from what our intentions were in making this film."

Blake has caught heat for dancing around the film's domestic violence themes during her press tour ... instead encouraging viewers to wear their florals to see the movie -- as if it was a rom-com.

Sklenar assures fans that everyone involved in this film understood the gravity of the story they were telling ... defending the film for recognizing and validating certain experiences, while inspiring hope and courage ... writing "Ultimately, it’s meant to spread love and awareness."

Justin has hired a crisis PR expert ... sources told TMZ last week Blake has no plans to speak about any of this drama, preferring to put any beef behind them.

We're sure more developments are to come ... so, stay tuned.