Ellen DeGeneres' weird connection to 'It Ends With Us' revealed amid Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni feud

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The film 'It Ends With Us', starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, has baffled audiences for a variety of reasons - from significant plot holes to the acrimonious court struggle between its lead stars.

But none is more perplexing than the film's tiniest, strangest, and most superfluous subplot: the protagonist's fixation on Ellen DeGeneres.

A baffling movie subplot involving DeGeneres has left viewers perplexed. However, the real-life tension between Lively and Baldoni has dominated the news since their icy press tour, during which they avoided each other at all costs.

Ellen DeGeneres' references in 'It Ends With Us' explained

This might have gone unnoticed by someone who watched the film without reading the book first. The allusions to the former talk show host are so brief that they are nearly imperceptible.

The former talk show host was mentioned three times in the movie, based on Colleen Hoover's best-selling book of the same name, in a number of blink-and-you'll-miss-them moments, per Daily Mail.

'It Ends With Us' tells the tale of doctor Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni) and florist Lily Blossom Bloom (Lively) who end up in an abusive relationship.

For those who haven't read the book, Lively's character Lily Bloom, who had a violent father during her difficult childhood, decides to write letters to the former talk show host in her diary entries.

Although the movie skips over Lily's love for the comedian, Degeneres is a significant character in the novel and serves as the protagonist's actual surrogate mother.

During the early years of their relationship, Lily and her first love, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), even became close by watching 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' together every day after school.

The slogan "just keep swimming" from DeGeneres' animated feature 'Finding Nemo' also provides a point of connection between the two. Lily identifies with Dory (DeGeneres) and sees Atlas as her "Marlin" (Albert Brooks), helping her get through difficult times.

One particularly noteworthy moment in the book occurs when Atlas presents Lily with a copy of DeGeneres' memoir, 'Seriously…I’m Kidding,' which has the message "just keep swimming" written on it.

Although it was not included in the movie, Lily uses the statement as a mantra to help her get through difficult moments in the novel. The movie paid an ode to the phrase by opening with a poster for the film 'Finding Nemo' hanging on the wall of Lily's teenage bedroom.

Lily even honors her admiration for DeGeneres and her relationship with Atlas by giving her daughter the middle name Dory.

Ellen DeGeneres appears in blink-and-you'll-miss-them moments in 'It Ends With Us'

For many fans, watching 'Ellen' every day was a comfort in the years before she was 'canceled' for allegedly being a terrible boss. Just that Lily becomes a bit too at ease with Dory.

Screenwriter Christy Hall appears to have shared this sentiment, as Lily's obsession with Ellen is virtually absent from the film. Ellen is mentioned just three times, all of which occur early in the movie.

The first is subtle: Lily's room has a large 'Finding Nemo' poster. Having a huge picture of a Pixar movie right next to Lily's bed does not appear like her style as a senior in high school, but there it is.

The second one is the most puzzling. Lily appears to be writing in her journal in one of the shots. "Dear Ellen" goes at the top. A person who isn't paying attention could fail to observe the name on the page since it moves very quickly.

However, the diary never shows up or is ever referenced again, so anyone who does will always wonder who Ellen is and never receive an answer.

One could attempt to explain this by claiming that Lily is writing to an imaginary buddy or something, per Cosmopolitan.

However, the third and most obvious allusion to DeGeneres is Lily watching 'Ellen' on TV while lounging on the couch. Once more, it's short, but it's sufficient that viewers watch the host herself.

Screenwriter and producer Christy Hall discussed the choice to exclude DeGeneres from the film after it was released.

"That was a big piece of the heartbeat of the book, so we wanted to acknowledge it. But for me, personally – I can only speak for myself – I just really wanted to use the precious real estate we had to keep our focus on the core characters," she told Business Insider.