(NewsNation) — “It Ends With Us” author Colleen Hoover recently opened up about her feelings of the novel being associated with the public clash between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

“I can’t even recommend it anymore,” Hoover said. “I feel like [the lawsuit] has overshadowed it. I’m almost embarrassed to say I wrote it. When people ask what I do, I’m just like, ‘I’m a writer. Please don’t ask me what I wrote.’”

After the movie’s release in Aug. 2024, Lively sued Baldoni months later for sexual harassment and retaliation. Baldoni has denied the allegations. However, the lawsuit ignited a highly publicized legal battle.

Earlier this month, court documents revealed that Lively is seeking $160 million in damages from Baldoni, alleging she has experienced a significant loss in past and future earnings from acting, producing, and business ventures.

“The more time that passes, the easier everything gets for all of us,” added Hoover. “But it is sad, because I was very proud of that book. And I’m still proud of it, but less publicly so. Maybe I need therapy, I don’t know.”

“It Ends With Us” was first published in 2016, and it later became a sensation on TikTok, prompting a sequel book in 2022. The novel explores themes of domestic violence that are personal to Hoover, loosely inspired by her own mother’s experiences.

“The book was inspired by her story, and now it gives us PTSD to think about it,” Hoover said. “I feel awful because I almost feel like she’s gone through more with the aftermath of this film, more pain than she went through with my dad, just seeing the ugliness of it.”