Did Blake Lively & Anna Kendrick Feud on the Set of A Simple Favor?

Rumors about a feud between Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick are getting new scrutiny amid the announcement that the pair are reuniting for A Simple Favor 2.

Kendrick and Lively, who starred in the first installment of the black comedy crime thriller back in 2018, will reprise their roles in Another Simple Favor which is set to open at SXSW in March before becoming available to stream on Amazon Prime.

On the heels of the tumultuous legal back and forth between her It Ends With Us director and co-star, Justin Baldoni, rumors of a feud with Kendrick have circulated around the Gossip Girl actress.

Are Blake Lively & Anna Kendrick Feuding?

Despite speculation, Lively and Kendrick do not appear to be feuding. Another Simple Favor director Paul Feig shut down the rumors in a Jan. 10. on X while responding to a post about “tensions” between Lively and Kendrick.

In a now-deleted post, one X user wrote, “BREAKING: Amazon shelves A Simple Favor 2 indefinitely. Despite glowing test screenings, Blake Lively’s refusal to promote—amid her messy legal battle with Justin Baldoni—and growing tensions with Anna Kendrick have derailed the sequel. Anna is furious. Paul Feig is disappointed. Hollywood is in shock.”

“This is total BS. Sorry,” Feig responded. “The movie is finished and coming out soon. Don’t believe anything you read on social media these days.”

But where did this rumor come from?

Rumors of a Feud Between Lively and Kendrick First Surfaced in 2018

During their 2018 press tour, some speculated that tensions between the pair was palpable in interviews.

Later, in 2021, one the hosts of Celebrity Memoir Bookclub, Claire Parker, claimed a studio insider who worked on the film told her that Kendrick and Lively were “not speaking” after working on the film. In a TikTok video, he also shared a screenshot of a message from an alleged source who claimed that Kendrick and Lively “hated each other.”

Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick in ‘A Simple Favor,’ 2018.©Lions Gate/courtesy Everett Collecti / Everett Collection

“The studio even had to have a talk with them about making it look like they liked each other on press tours because it was starting to get obvious. Anna in particular was really competitive with Blake and was constantly asking to make sure she got more promotion than Blake and even made us PHOTOSHOP HER CLEAVAGE in the Simple Favor poster to be as big (or bigger) than Blake’s,” the source wrote.

Henry Golding Also Denied There Was a Feud Between Lively and Kendrick

During a 2022 appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Kendrick and Lively’s A Simple Favor co-star Henry Golding was asked about the rumors and responded, “I think they got on pretty reasonably well.”

“Definitely no friction that I noticed,” he added.

In Oct. 2024, insiders told Life & Style that the pair allegedly “managed to put aside their personality differences” to work on the sequel.

“Blake has now had the biggest direct hit of her career with It Ends With Us but she’s not going to let herself be permanently painted as the villain every project she does going forward. In fact, she is pushing back against that strongly and making sure her real allies know just how much they are valued,” the source claimed.

In December, Lively sued her It Ends With Us director after months of rumors about tensions on set. She alleged sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign to tarnish her reputation. Baldoni denied the allegations and responded with a $400 million lawsuit, accusing Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, among others, of defamation and extortion.

Feig also defended Lively against Baldoni’s claims in a December X post. “I’ve now made two movies with Blake and all I can say is she’s one of the most professional, creative, collaborative, talented and kind people I’ve ever worked with,” the director wrote on X on Dec. 22. “She truly did not deserve any of this smear campaign against her. I think it’s awful she was put through this.”

The long-awaited sequel was confirmed in 2022. The first film, A Simple Favor was about a single-mom named Stephanie (Kendrick) meeting a secretive, posh woman named Emily (Lively). After she disappears, she tries to find out what’s going on. The sequel follows the same women on a trip to Italy for Emily’s wedding.