Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick’s ‘A Simple Favor’ Drama Rumors Resurface

Some two things that just don't mix, like oil and water or popcorn and M&Ms. In recent years, it seems the latest mismatch is Blake Lively and co-stars.

In December 2024, Blake fired back at her ongoing drama with her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni by filing a sexual harassment suit against him. The lawsuit included a list of demands from her stating she wanted Justin to stop discussing multiple inappropriate comments around her, including his "sexual conquests" and "no discussions of cast and crew's genitalia."

Justin has denied Blake's claims, calling it a ploy to protect her image after he shared his thoughts on her being "a nightmare on set."

While the drama between the co-stars has been hard to watch for film fans and the actors individually, it wasn't Blake's first rodeo. Before her friction with Justin, many felt she had beef with another co-star, Anna Kendrick. The actors starred in 2018's A Simple Favor and were reportedly not as close as the dark comedy made it seem.

Here's what we know about Blake and Anna's drama.

While Blake and Anna didn't seem to know each other well before A Simple Favor, they began their careers in the early 2000s and had similar trajectories from teen starlets to A-list actors. When they joined forces for the film, with Anna playing widowed single mother and vlogger Stephanie Smothers and Blake playing Emily Nelson, a fashion PR executive who mysteriously disappears, their on-screen chemistry seemed unmatched.

The actors also seemed to get along while promoting the film, as they often bantered in interviews. However, rumors swirled when the film came out that the tension between them was palpable. Some reports shared that Blake was aware of Anna's 2016 comments about her friend, Taylor Swift, where she said she could never subscribe to the singer's "Miss American" persona with her fans.

Then, in 2021, The Celebrity Memoir Book Podcast claimed on TikTok that the co-stars "were not speaking" when they were done filming the movie.

"They HATED each other," an insider reportedly told the podcast. "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."

The source also alleged that Anna was "really competitive" with Blake and reportedly went so far as to "PHOTOSHOP HER CLEAVAGE" to look better in the movie's promotions.

While some of Blake's other feuds, including her lawsuit against Justin, are public records, she and Anna have never discussed their rumored A Simple Favor drama. However, in 2022, their co-star, Henry Golding, addressed the rumors on Watch What Happens Live and claimed he didn't see any issues between them on set.

"Definitely no friction that I noticed," he said, though host Andy Cohen and guest Michelle Buteau had trouble buying what he was selling.

In addition to their co-star stating Anna and Blake seemed on good terms during A Simple Favor, the co-stars confirmed they were cordial enough to work together again. In 2022, they announced A Simple Favor 2 was coming and began filming the sequel in Europe in 2024.

In October 2024, Anna discussed being back on set with Blake with People and said she had nothing but positive things to say about being reunited with the Green Lantern star.

"She lives on the East Coast, I live on the West Coast, so we don't get to see each other often,” The Pitch Perfect star said of Blake. “But it was lovely, and I think that those characters have such weird chemistry that it's so fun to just get the gang back together. And it does feel a little bit like riding a bike.”