Paul Feig defends 'A Simple Favor 2' star Blake Lively
Director Paul Feig has defended Blake Lively amidst claims that her ongoing trial with Justin Baldoni derailed the production of 'A Simple Favor 2'.
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Film » Film News
Mon 13 January 2025 9:03, UK
The director of A Simple Favor 2, Paul Feig, has put an end to the rumours that Blake Lively caused the upcoming sequel to be cancelled and confirmed that it will go ahead as planned.
On January 10th, an X user reported that “based on insider accounts”, the actor had refused to promote the sequel to the 2018 film due to her ongoing case with It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni and “growing tensions with Anna Kendrick”.
Baldoni and Lively recently starred in the 2024 film It Ends with Us. Lively sued the actor/director for alleged sexual harassment on set and reputational damage. Baldoni responded by launching a lawsuit against the New York Times over their reporting of the story, claiming that he would counter-sue his co-star.
Amid the lawsuit, Feig responded to claims that Lively’s involvement with the legal suit had interfered with the sequel, saying, “This is total BS. Sorry. The movie is finished and coming out soon. Don’t believe anything you read on social media these days”.
The author of the false report responded to Feig’s statement, asking why a release date or promotion plans hadn’t been set by the studio.
Again, Feig responded to the false claims saying, “My friend, it’s called post production, which generally takes over half a year at least when you factor in editing, scoring, special effects, sound mixing, close captioning and all the technical quality control that has to be done. Our post schedule always had us finishing everything by mid-January.”
Amazon Studios and Lionsgate announced the sequel for the 2018 comedy crime thriller in 2022, with the original cast members Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Joshua Satine, Ian Ho and Kelly McCormack reuniting for the project.
The original movie follows Stephanie, a single mother who seeks to discover the mystery behind Emily Nelson’s disappearance, working with her husband Sean. The sequel follows Emily and Stephanie as they travel to Italy for Emily’s wedding with a rich businessman.
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Blake Lively