Blake Lively will attend Another Simple Favor premiere at SXSW despite legal war with Justin Baldoni

Simple Favor, which will open the South by Southwest Film & TV Festival in Austin, TX this Friday night.

Director Paul Feig revealed that the troubled 37-year-old – who’s in the midst of a legal war against her It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni – will in fact join ‘most’ of the cast already in Texas.

‘Blake is the greatest,’ the 62-year-old filmmaker gushed to Variety Thursday.

‘I couldn’t love her more. She’s a dream to work with. She’s a great collaborator. She has amazing ideas and it open to everyone’s ideas. She’s a pro.’

Paul has been a staunch supporter of Lively (born Brown) throughout her legal woes, even inviting her and husband Ryan Reynolds as his ‘dates’ to SNL50: The Anniversary Special on February 16 where they glammed up and made an on-air joke of their scandal.

On Sunday, Feig caught up with his other Another Simple Favor leading lady Anna Kendrick – who’s back as vlogger-turned-detective Stephanie Smothers – while attending the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills.

The cast and crew will reunite at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Austin this Friday at 5:30pm, and there’s a second screening this Saturday morning at The Hyatt Regency as well as future premieres planned for New York City and LA closer to the Prime Video release on May 1.

The Deadpool & Wolverine actress reprised her role as bride-to-be Emily Nelson, who’s somehow free after being sentenced to 20 years in prison for the double murder of her father and sister, in the Italy-set sequel.

Another Simple Favor also features Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Joshua Satine, Michele Morrone, Elena Sofia Ricci, Elizabeth Perkins, Alex Newell, and Allison Janney.

The first film scored a ‘certified fresh’ 84% critic approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and amassed $97.6M at the global box office.

On December 20, Blake filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department against the 41-year-old filmmaker for sexual harassment and retaliation on the set of the Sony Pictures drama, and revealed her side to the New York Times.

Justin immediately filed a libel lawsuit for $250M against the New York Times for biased coverage of Lively’s ‘vicious smear campaign’ and she filed a lawsuit against him and his PR team on December 31 for his ‘plan to undermine her reputation in retaliation.’

On January 16, Baldoni filed a second $400M lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds, and their publicist Leslie Sloan for civil extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy.

The Manhattan US District trial is currently scheduled for March 2026.

As more evidence is revealed, the Gossip Girl alum – who requires ‘authorship’ on all her films – appears to have masterminded a takeover of the It Ends with Us script, wardrobe, and editing departments by threatening to pull out of promoting.

Last August, Blake faced substantial outrage over her treatment of journalists, sarcastically answering questions about domestic violence in her movie, and floral-filled Barbie-style promotion directly tied to her haircare and booze brands.