Showbiz

Blake Lively promotes Another Simple Favor amid PR disaster of Justin Baldoni drama

Blake Lively promotes Another Simple Favor amid PR disaster of Justin Baldoni drama

Blake Lively is plugging another film amid her legal warfare with It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni.

The star shared the trailer for Another Simple Favor, the sequel to her 2018 thriller A Simple Favor, on her Instagram on Tuesday.

The sneak peek originally dropped last week but Lively did her own part in promoting the film by sharing it with her millions of Instagram followers.

‘It all started with just a simple favor… Another Simple Favor is streaming on Prime Video May 1,’ she captioned the post.

Comments were limited on the post, with just a few overwhelmingly positive remarks being shown in the hour since it was shared. 

The movie follows main characters Stephanie (Kendrick) and Emily (Lively) ‘head to the beautiful island of Capri, Italy, for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman,’ according to Variety. 

Blake Lively is plugging another film amid her legal warfare with It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni

Blake Lively is plugging another film amid her legal warfare with It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni

She dropped the trailer for Another Simple Favor, the follow-up to her 2018 film A Simple Favor

She dropped the trailer for Another Simple Favor, the follow-up to her 2018 film A Simple Favor

‘Along with the glamorous guests, expect murder and betrayal to RSVP for a wedding with more twists and turns than the road from the Marina Grande to the Capri town square.’

Read MoreEXCLUSIVE Anna Kendrick’s ‘secret feud’ with Blake Lively as they clash over Another Simple Favor billing article image

The timing is a publicity nightmare for the movie, which will no doubt be over shadowed by Blake’s ongoing legal drama with her It Ends With Us co-star Baldoni. 

Lively accused Baldoni of Sєxual harᴀssment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her in a lawsuit filed in December while Baldoni accused Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, and publicist Leslie Sloane of defamation and extortion in a $400 million suit filed in February.

Baldoni has denied the allegations from Lively, while Lively, Reynolds and Sloane have denied the accusations made by Baldoni.

Baldoni’s team has also released a website which includes private communications such as text messages that were included in court filings detailing his interactions with the Hollywood power couple over the making of romantic drama.

He claimed in court filings they made efforts made to usurp and undermine his input as the director of It Ends with Us.

After Prime Video released a promotional post for Another Simple Favor February 5 – which Lively stars in opposite Anna Kendrick – a number of commenters implicated that Lively might have tried to ᴀssert her influence over director Paul Feig, 62, over that movie, leading the filmmaker to respond to the speculation. 

'It all started with just a simple favor¿ Another Simple Favor is streaming on Prime Video May 1,' she captioned the post

‘It all started with just a simple favor… Another Simple Favor is streaming on Prime Video May 1,’ she captioned the post

Amid Baldoni’s claims that Lively and her inner circle used their considerable clout to commandeer changes to the script – even enlisting Swift to lean on him at one point – and re-cut the motion picture, a user asked in the comment section, ‘Is it Paul Feig’s cut or Blake’s cut?’

Feig – whose other cinematic credits include 2011’s Bridesmaids, 2016’s Ghostbusters and 2024’s Jackpot! – made clear he had full creative control over the film, replying, ‘It’s my cut. There is no other cut … just wanted to clear that up.’

Feig in his reply heaped mᴀssive praise on Lively, who he previously worked with on 2018’s A Simple Favor.

Comments on the post were limited

Comments on the post were limited

‘Blake has been nothing but supportive and a dream to work with,’ said the Emmy-nominated director, who has directed shows such as Arrested Development, The Office and Nurse Jackie. ‘She is the best and an amazing collaborator and I’m her biggest fan.’

A number of the director’s fans criticized his defense of Lively, amid the allegations Baldoni made in court filings and on the website.

‘Paul, I know you’re gonna wanna shake off these comments as coming from a bunch of loons, but Blake and Ryan really did use their star power to bulldoze Justin,’ said one user. ‘It makes me really sad, and I hope you remember when you were starting off in this business.’

Others told Feig that his stellar reputation as a feted industry veteran insulated him from the strong-arming and meddling Lively allegedly subjected Baldoni to in regard to It Ends with Us’s screenplay, wardrobe and editing.

It is directed by Paul Feig and also stars Anna Kendrick

It is directed by Paul Feig and also stars Anna Kendrick 

‘You’ve been in the directing game for so long, so of course Blake isn’t going to attempt to step on your toes,’ said one user. ‘She just goes for the directors that are starting off and tries to use her husband to bully them and take over.

‘She’d never have the balls to do that to someone like you so of course she’s “amazing, great, kind, etc.”‘

Said another user: ‘You’re making things worse by defending Blake, you know. This just reaffirms that Blake treats powerful directors like you nicely and targets those she considers less than.’

Lively is currently embroiled in legal warfare with Baldoni after It Ends With Us

Lively is currently embroiled in legal warfare with Baldoni after It Ends With Us

Another echoed, ‘You’re probably a good guy but you’re extremely lucky that you got your cut [because] Blake knew not to bully you and put you in the basement. She thought highly of you [because] you’re not a nobody.

‘But good luck with this show. It’s ᴅᴇᴀᴅ in the water.’

Multiple commenters referenced in Feig’s post Baldoni’s claim made in court filings that Lively arranged for his presence to be minimized at the It Ends with Us premiere.

‘Be careful you might end up in the basement in the premiere,’ one user said, while another responded, ‘Be careful Paul she may put you in the basement come premiere day.’

The sequel to A Simple Favour will begin streaming on Prime Video staring May 1.

Amazon MGM Studios released the trailer via YouTube last week – and tellingly – the comment sectioned appears to have been turned off by the studio.

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