It was inevitable that Anna Kendrick would get dragged into the social media frenzy surrounding Blake Lively’s highly divisive legal battle with Justin Baldoni.
After all, Kendrick reunites with Lively in the new movie “Another Simple Favor,” a sequel to their hit 2018 black comedy thriller “A Simple Favor.” The trailer for the Amazon MGM Studios film was released Wednesday, ahead of its premiere next month at the SXSW film festival and its streaming debut May 1.
In the original “A Simple Favor,” Kendrick and Lively play suburban moms who initially become best friends, then transform into mortal enemies as Lively’s glamorous character, Emily, is revealed to be a sociopathic killer. The trailer for the sequel shows Lively’s character seeking revenge on Kendrick’s Stephanie “for stealing my kid and taking my life away from me.”
The Daily Mail cited sources who said there have been tensions between the two co-stars over their billing and Kendrick’s concerns that Lively’s legal woes have already cast a shadow over the film’s release. For that reason, fans also have latched onto a theory that Kendrick signaled her support for Baldoni, her co-star’s nemesis, while praising the work of movie directors before presenting an award at the British Academy Film Awards last week.
The theory was fueled by Zack Peter, a pop culture YouTuber and podcast host who has been avidly following the Lively-Baldoni legal drama. Peter shared a clip from Kendrick’s BAFTAs speech, writing on X: “There’s no way Anna Kendrick’s speech about directors in Hollywood was coincidental. She’s confirming those Blake Lively feud rumors and I am living for this shade.”
Baldoni was both Lively’s co-star and her director for “It Ends With Us,” a drama about domestic violence. During the film’s release in August, rumors swirled that Lively and Baldoni, who play lovers in the film, feuded during the production. This purported off-screen drama exploded into one of Hollywood’s most specular public controversies after Lively went to the New York Times in December and alleged in a federal lawsuit that Baldoni sexually harassed her and helped orchestrated a media “smear” campaign against her during the film’s release.
In his own lawsuit, Baldoni vehemently denied harassing Lively and rejected her claims that he’s responsible for the negative publicity she garnered during the film’s press tour. Also central to his lawsuit is his claim that Lively plotted with her movie star husband Ryan Reynolds to wrest control of his movie by rewriting scenes, demanding a role in the film’s final editing process and even enlisting a new composer and her famous friend Taylor Swift to provide music.
In Kendrick’s eyebrow-raising appearance at the BAFTAs, she had come on stage to present the award for best director, according to video originally posted on the organization’s TikTok page. In her opening, the “Pitch Perfect” star described the “respect” actors and other production staff have for the “exhilarating and exhausting” job carried out by film directors.
“It’s juggling a million decisions, answering endless questions, and somehow still making sure that the story shines through,” added Kendrick.
Many agreed with Peter, the podcaster, interpreting Kendrick’s words to be a veiled swipe against Lively, for allegedly not respecting Baldoni’s position as a director on “It Ends With Us.”
“Anna Kendrick’s shade is always so calculated and i love it you just know Blake was somewhere rolling her eyes after that speech,” one person said. “Anna really got on that stage and said I’m gonna direct this shade right where it needs to go. ICONIC.”
Others observed a well-time pause before Kendrick said the word “respect,” leading others to say, “She really knows how to deliver a line” and “The shade is so strong, I need SPF 100.”
But others replying to Peter’s post couldn’t see the connection between Kendrick’s speech and Lively’s alleged interference in Baldoni’s work as a director. They also pointed out that Kendrick’s comments about directors’ hard work could just as easily reflect her own recent debut as a feature film director. She directed the 2024 Netflix true-crime thriller, in which she also plays a struggling actress in 1970s Hollywood who appears on “The Dating Game” with serial killer Rodney Alcala.
“She just had her first go at directing, so I wouldn’t jump to conclusions,” one person said, but another insisted: “This was NOT a coincidence, she knew exactly what she was doing.”
Whatever Kendrick’s intentions, her words at the BAFTAs add to the cloud forming over the release of “Another Simple Favor.” Significantly, Amazon appeared to turn off the comments for the YouTube post of the film’s trailer, mostly likely to avoid a torrent of angry comments directed at Lively, who has found herself on the defensive, PR-wise, in her legal battle against Baldoni.
Last week, a former crew member for “A Simple Favor” came forward on social media to advance the idea that Lively is difficult and demanding to work with, especially with those she sees as her subordinates or those like Baldoni, whom she purportedly sees as less powerful in the Hollywood hierarchy.
Barbara Szeman, who worked as an assistant director on the film, appeared to call out Lively in a series of since-deleted comments that she posted to co-star Henry Golding’s Instagram.
“My experience with everyone was absolutely amazing, except for a certain someone who is the reason I quit being an AD,” Szeman said, alluding to Lively but not naming her. Szeman subsequently explained how the film’s unnamed star didn’t treat crew members well.
“I will say she was cruel to many,” Szeman said. “I know I cried my way home many nights because you try so hard to please someone who is never pleased and puts you down constantly.”
The Daily Mail reported that the negative attention focused on Lively amid her legal drama has prompted Kendrick to want to “distance herself” from her co-star as she promotes “Another Simple Favor.” It was originally planned that Kendrick and Lively would do much of the promotion together, “but Anna could go it alone over fears she will get caught up in the drama,” a source told the Daily Mail.
Insiders have denied that the two women are feuding. “They have a working relationship, by no means a close friendship or bond,” a source said. “These movies are basically all Anna and Blake have in common.”