Imagine writing the book behind a major Hollywood film, attending its star-studded premiere, and then discovering that your appearance in a celebrity photo has apparently been given the editing-room treatment. Colleen Hoover's latest red-carpet moment has become a rather unexpected plot twist, and Reddit is already writing its own ending.
A TMZ post featuring the cast of Verity, the film adaptation of Hoover's bestselling novel, has attracted attention after users noticed the author was absent from the shared image and was not named in its caption. The photograph highlighted the film's stars, including Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett. Hoover's absence prompted questions about whether the image had been cropped.
On Wednesday, 30 September, an online postdrew attention to the omission, with its poster declaring, 'This is the ultimate karma!!' For the uninitiated in the Hoover multiverse of literary art and controversy, the reaction is linked to an issue that has followed another Hoover adaptation for over two years. The film may have been titled It Ends With Us, but the shade apparently gets a sequel.
The Author Is Missing From the Picture
The Reddit post claimed TMZ had cropped Hoover out of its Verity premiere photograph and failed to mention her in the accompanying caption. For a film based on her own novel, that was enough to get commenters talking.
However, the omission does not establish that TMZ deliberately removed Hoover or intended to slight her. The reason for the image selection has not been confirmed. Still, that did little to slow the discussion. The original poster wrote, 'The tables have turned,' drawing a comparison with the promotional controversy surrounding the 2024 adaptation of It Ends With Us.
The irony was not lost on other commenters, although a few found themselves distracted by Hoover's premiere outfit.
'I do not like her but the dress is kinda slay,' one user admitted.
Another agreed that Hoover looked good in the photograph, even while joining the conversation about her apparent absence. Clearly, the dress passed the inspection even when the publicity photograph did not. Maybe the shade can end due to good style choices?
Why Reddit Is Calling It 'The Ultimate Karma'
The reactions trace back to the turbulent promotion of It Ends With Us, which starred Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, who also directed the film.
During its 2024 release, Lively and Baldoni largely promoted the adaptation separately. Baldoni was notably absent from photographs with several cast members, a situation that fuelled speculation about tensions behind the scenes.
Hoover publicly appeared alongside Lively during that period. Later, the dispute developed into lawsuits involving allegations of sexual harassment, retaliation, and defamation, with the parties contesting one another's accounts. The legal battle concluded in a settlement in May 2026.
That history explains why some Reddit users interpreted the Verity photograph as a reversal of fortunes.
'This is the ultimate karma. Now she knows how Justin felt when he was being erased from his own project, and nobody wanted to say his name,' the original poster wrote. Others accused Hoover of abandoning Baldoni during the earlier controversy.
'Verity' Has Another Story to Tell
Away from the Reddit discussion, Verity is preparing for its cinema release on Friday, 2 October.
Directed by Michael Showalter, the psychological thriller follows struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh, played by Dakota Johnson, who is hired to complete the work of an incapacitated bestselling author named Verity, played by Hathaway. Hartnett portrays Verity's husband.
While some Reddit users are reading the alleged TMZ photo-cropping as poetic justice, there is no confirmed evidence that the outlet intended to send a message. Nevertheless, for a film called Verity, the internet is once again invested in the truth behind the potential shade.
