Anna Kendrick is fuming at Blake Lively’s failure to address how her ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni is negatively impacting their upcoming movie, Another Simple Favor, insiders claim.
The pair reunited for the sequel of their 2018 comedy thriller, A Simple Favor, and what was previously set to be a seamless promotional tour could now be overshadowed by Lively’s very public legal issues.
The Gossip Girl alum, 37, is currently locked in a bitter battle with her former It Ends with Us costar Baldoni, 41, whom she accused of sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign against her in a bombshell lawsuit last year.
The actor, who also directed the adaptation, is now countersuing both Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, for $400 million, with the roller-coaster saga pulling Lively’s behaviour into question. All of the parties deny the allegations.
Despite the fallout bleeding into the early promotion, Lively has reportedly done little to address the matter with the cast and crew.
‘There is a gigantic pink elephant in the room that no one is acknowledging,’ a source told DailyMail.com. ‘The backlash to initial promo has been brutal. There are people protesting and refusing to see it.
Anna Kendrick is fuming at Blake Lively’s failure to address how her legal battle with Justin Baldoni is negatively impacting their upcoming movie, Another Simple Favor, insiders claim
The pair reunited for the sequel to their 2018 comedy, A Simple Favor, and what was previously set to be a seamless promotional tour could now be overshadowed by Lively’s legal issues
‘Blake has not addressed this. She has not called the cast to apologise. She has not done anything like that. She has stayed quiet and hidden away.
‘She owes Anna an apology. She owes them all an apology.’
They added: ‘Anna is just over all of it. If Anna was in this position, she would not be letting the film take the fall for her own personal issues.’
The first poster for Another Simple Favor was revealed on Tuesday, along with the announcement that it will premiere on March 7 at the SXSW Film and TV Festival in Austin, Texas.
The positioning of their names reportedly sparked a tussle between Kendrick, 39, and Lively over who should get top billing, with the former refusing to ‘bow to Blake’s demands’.
‘In the original film Anna got top billing over Blake,’ a second insider said. ‘She thought it was a no-brainer that the same would happen this time around. But Blake didn’t see it that way.
‘She fought, through her reps to get top billing over Anna, who refused to bow to Blake’s demands.
‘Finally, after weeks of negotiations a deal was struck between the actresses. They agreed on staggered billing, which meant Anna’s name would read first and Blake’s would be above hers but on the right-hand side. In the business that’s considered equal billing.’
Lively, 37, has reportedly done little to address with the cast and crew how her issues are impacting the film. A source told DailyMail.com: ‘There is a gigantic pink elephant in the room’
Prime Video released a promotional poster for the comedic thriller on Tuesday with the comments section inundated with scathing posts about Lively’s legal saga
Neither party was ‘thrilled’ with the outcome but reportedly accepted it because ‘they knew they needed to come to an agreement’.
The latest drama is not the first sign of tensions between the duo, whose costar Henry Golding previously denied rumors that they had refused to speak to each other on the set of the original movie.
‘Definitely no friction that I noticed,’ he insisted during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live.
But fans were, and still remain, unconvinced having analysed the subtle shade and sarcastic comments the pair threw at each other while promoting the black comedy in 2018.
In one recently resurfaced interview, Kendrick appeared to mock Lively for not being as talented as her.
She said: ‘I met [Blake] a few times through Ryan [Reynolds] on that film [The Voices] and you know, I thought she [Blake] seemed nice, but little did I know.’
Kendrick also made comments about jealousy as her costar insisted she would ‘never be able to be a Disney Princess without Anna’s voice’.
In a mocking tone, Kendrick said: ‘Oh muffin, it’s so hard being you!’
The source added: ‘Blake has not addressed this. She has not called the cast to apologise… She has stayed quiet and hidden away’ (pictured together in A Simple Favor in 2018)
A second insider said the pair have been at war over who should get top billing, with Kendrick reportedly refusing to ‘bow to Blake’s demands’
‘After weeks of negotiations a deal was struck between the actresses,’ the insider said. ‘They agreed on staggered billing’
Lively took a swipe at the interviewer later in the clip and appeared furious that he was directing the questions towards Kendrick and not her.
She fumed: ‘What about me over here?’
‘Oh my god, guys don’t fight just because I’m the best at everything,’ Kendrick quipped.
Tension between the women stemmed from Kendrick making fun of Lively’s best friend, Taylor Swift, reported In Touch at the time.
Kendrick received an outpouring of sympathy when she shared the promotional poster for their upcoming film – a stark contrast to the scathing comments targeted at Lively.
‘Did Ryan rewrite a scene?’ asked one user in reference to Lively’s rewrite of a scene in It Ends with Us.
Another said: ‘Nope nope nope. Sorry Anna, will watch the next one. Not supporting this movie or anything with Blake Lively in it.’
A third echoed: ‘Love you Anna, but I can’t stand Blake more. Will not be watching this movie.’
Lively made headlines when she alleged in legal paperwork that Justin Baldoni sexually harassed her during the making of It Ends With Us
Sources previously told DailyMail.com that Lively has been given a private coach to ‘school her,’ and that execs are working with director Paul Feig, 62, (pictured) to make sure promo for Another Simple Favor centres on the movie and not her legal issues
Kendrick is reportedly ‘reluctant’ to promote the film because of the backlash.
Sources previously told DailyMail.com that Lively has been given a private coach to ‘school her,’ and that executives are working with director Paul Feig, 62, to try to make sure everything centres on the movie and not her legal issues.
Festival organisers and those working on the film have reportedly discussed foregoing a Q&A session at SXSW, or alternatively making an announcement after the screening requesting that all questions be focused solely on the film.
Feig also posted the image, but unlike the original, he tagged everyone but Lively.
However, he did jump to her defense as he responded to one user: ‘It’s my cut. There is no other cut. Blake has been nothing but supportive and a dream to work with.
‘She is the best and an amazing collaborator and I’m her biggest fan. Just wanted to clear that up.’
‘The movie is a passion project for Feig,’ the insider said. ‘Everyone is worried that Blake’s “mean girl” image and all the negative comments about her on the post could ruin the excitement for the film.’
