Blake Lively’s big return to the red carpet got off to a bumpy start on Friday, as a Justin Baldoni protestor arrived the Another Simple Favor premiere at South by Southwest Film & TV Festival in Austin, Texas.
Proving that the PR disaster of It Ends With Us is far from over, a woman was seen wearing a shirt that said ‘Blake lied’ and held a sign that read: ‘Justice for Justin Baldoni. Blake lied,’ as the star walked the red carpet nearby.
To make matters worse, there appeared to be more awkward moments as Blake’s co-star Anna Kendrick had an awkward response to a question about working with her on the film.
‘Oh you know,’ Anna said on the red carpet when asked about working with Blake.
It was also unclear if Blake and Anna posed together just the two of them, though they did both pose alongside the film’s director Paul Feig.
The actress, 37, donned a skintight nude and black dress – layered under a pink plastic cover up.
Blake is currently in the midst of a legal war against her It Ends With Us co-star and director, actor Justin Baldoni.
Blake Lively ‘s big return to the red carpet got off to a bumpy start on Friday, as a Justin Baldoni protestor arrived the Another Simple Favor premiere at South by Southwest Film & TV Festival in Austin, Texas
The protestor held a sign that read: ‘Justice for Justin Baldoni. Blake lied,’ as the star walked the red carpet nearby
Another Simple Favor is the sequel to her 2018 thriller A Simple Favor.
The movie follows main characters Stephanie (Anna 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.
‘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.’
While on the red carpet on Friday, Blake was heard telling the screaming crowd: ‘You guys are so sweet not to shout, so civil.’
After smiling and posing for a few seconds, Blake proceeds to take off the plastic-style cover up, as she says aloud: ‘Okay this is coming off now, that’s better.’
‘Hi there,’ she adds, as she takes the cover up off to reveal the strapless skintight dress beneath.
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.
Blake is currently in the midst of a legal war against her It Ends With Us co-star and director, actor Justin Baldoni
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
It was also unclear if Blake and Anna posed together just the two of them, though they did both pose alongside the film’s director Paul Feig
The actress donned a skintight nude and black dress – layered under a pink cover up – she took off for the afternoon premiere
Blake brushed off the protestor as she posed with fans
Blake couldn’t stop smiling as she posed with her fans
The movie star also posed with her co-star Michele Morrone
Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment 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 assert her influence over director Paul Feig, 62, over that movie, leading the filmmaker to respond to the speculation.
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 massive praise on Lively, who he previously worked with on 2018’s A Simple Favor.
‘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.’
Lively is currently embroiled in legal warfare with Baldoni after It Ends With Us
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.