It's time to admit Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively’s 'feud' is a complete conspiracy.

As quirky thriller A Simple Favour returns for a sequel, so do the weird rumours that the two leading ladies can't stand each other.

But in 2025, the online chatter is especially intense off the back of Lively's past year, more specifically the legal drama she's in with It Ends With Us director and co-star, Justin Baldoni, and the unrelenting public scrutiny that has followed.

Another Simple Favour couldn't come at a more complicated time.

The 2018 novel adaption, starring Blake Lively, Anna Kendrick and Henry Golding, was a surprise hit at the box office.

The story follows a friendship between two suburban mothers: widowed vlogger Stephanie (Kendrick) and glamorous Emily (Lively), who disappears in the first film.

Original director Paul Feig is back for the sequel, which will see Stephanie and Emily up to more mischief, but this time on the island of Capri in Italy.

The film reunites us with Emily, who has recently been freed from prison and has invited Stephanie to her Italian wedding — to a mafia heir, no less. Along with Lively and Kendrick, the cast includes Henry Golding, Michele Morrone and Allison Janney.

Watch the trailer for Another Simple Favour. Post continues after video.

It's no huge surprise the film is getting an (albeit rather delayed) sequel, given the first movie was made for $20 million and earned more than $97 million at the worldwide box office.

However, what might come as a surprise to fans of the film is that both of its leading ladies have reunited for the sequel.

This is because over the years, many people have assumed that Lively and Kendrick despised each other.

Now, without missing a beat, these rumours are back in overdrive after Another Simple Favour premiered at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in Austin, Texas.

The premiere was attended by stars Lively, Kendrick, and director Feig, but all eyes were on how the two leading ladies responded to questions about each other.

In particular, one clip of Kendrick has gone viral, popping up all over X and TikTok as "evidence" of a feud.

Anna Kendrick arrives to the premiere of 'Another Simple Favor' at SXSW. pic.twitter.com/Tcbt0UpkrM

— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) March 7, 2025

"Anna, what does it mean to be working with Blake again?" one Entertainment Tonight reporter asked.

She replied, "Oh, you know…" before trailing off.

To be clear, Kendrick was not even doing interviews at the time; she was heading to take photos with fans. But either way, this throwaway comment has made headlines.

Another viral clip simply shows Kendrick smiling and looking at the floor when Lively speaks.

Anna Kendrick is so uncomfortable that Blake Lively is acting like nothings happened pic.twitter.com/Gx1xli98LO

— AllAboutTRH (@AllAboutTRH) March 8, 2025

Umm. Okay. That's it?

In another interview, Kendrick reacted sarcastically when asked if the film was impacted by "everything" else going on, alluding to Lively's lawsuits. "Why? What happened?" she smirked.

Anna Kendrick’s response to a reporter who asked about her new movie with Blake Lively ‘Another Simple Favor’ being affected by “everything going on.”

pic.twitter.com/gbv2AQotgG

— Pop Base (@PopBase) March 7, 2025

The speculation has gotten so out of control that the film's director has felt compelled to comment on it.

In a post on X, YouTuber Melanie King claimed Lively looked "terrified to walk the carpet as Anna is pissed and never wants to work with her again."

Feig's response? "Um ... you're wrong," he stated simply.

Um … you’re wrong. https://t.co/aJ8zJGv2Tn

— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) March 8, 2025

This rare comment from a director about tabloid fodder involving his cast speaks to just how exacerbated the scrutiny of Lively is lately.

For instance, the simple act of Lively removing her jacket at the premiere has drawn the ire of certain corners of the interwebs.

Blake Lively, AKA Plantation Barbie, did a "costume change" on the red carpet for Another Simple Favor's premiere at SXSW. Is she serious? The delusion and narcissism is egregious. No one else did this. I know Anna Kendrick is soooo tired 😩 pic.twitter.com/tfZeH2BdRr

— Melanie King (@realmelanieking) March 8, 2025

So what is the deal? Are Lively and Kendrick at war, or is this all just a convenient story to piggyback on the Lively backlash?

Okay, let's recap.

From the very beginning of filming for the original movie, rumours swirled that Lively and Kendrick did not get along.

Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively at the New York premiere. Image: Getty.

One month into filming in September 2017, Star (now In Touch Weekly) reported that Lively and Kendrick had clashed over the Pitch Perfect star making fun of Taylor Swift, who we all know is Lively's longtime pal.

Then came the press tour.

There were quite a few examples of Kendrick and Lively making snide comments at each other, which could either be taken as harmless jokes or speaking to some tension simmering under the surface.

In one viral interview with MTV, Kendrick mockingly said to the Gossip Girl star, "Oh muffin, it's so hard being you," and later recoiled from Lively's touch, whispering, "Don't touch me."

In more recent years, even more allegations have surfaced. In 2021, Celebrity Memoir Bookclub claimed that by the time A Simple Favour finished shooting, the two women "were not speaking". In one video, the podcast shared a screenshot of a message they received from someone claiming they worked at the studio that made the film.

"They HATED each other. 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 person claimed.

"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 Favour poster to be as big (or bigger) than Blake's."

I mean... make of that what you will, but Anna Kendrick's cleavage is definitely prominent in this movie poster.

Hmmm, they could have a point. Image: Warner Bros.

But given what we know about Lively and Kendrick signing back on to do another movie together, some of the past rumours about them are now cast under a suspicious light.

Interview moments that initially made headlines, such as Lively revealing she was blocked by Kendrick on Instagram, were likely just jokes and nothing deeper than that.

Another interview that people quote as evidence of the feud was a chat between the women facilitated by BuzzFeed featuring Kendrick's buzzy quip to Lively, "That was the day I decided I hate you."

This is a quote that often appears in stories about the women's rift, but the full interview was, of course, far less controversial.

The moment came as Lively was talking about the guilt she felt over a day that she was told to come an hour late, but her co-star hadn't been told they were filming later. "I was like, 'Oh, so weird, is Anna — where is she?' and they were like, 'Oh, she's been ready for an hour. We didn't push her call,'" Blake recalled.

To this, Kendrick joked back, "That was the day I decided I hate you." Lively took the comment in her stride, continuing to talk about how 'mortified' she felt at that moment and then Kendrick shared a similar story of feeling guilty for being tardy one day.

It was such a throwaway joke, but attached to the rumours these two were feuding... the tabloids took it and ran with it.

Neither Kendrick nor Lively has ever commented on any animosity between them, but their co-star Henry Golding has said there's no truth behind the rumours. "I think they got on pretty reasonably well," he said on Watch What Happens Live.

"Definitely no friction that I noticed."

Henry Golding on Watch What Happens Live. Image: Bravo.

For every awkward interview moment between Kendrick and Lively on the press tour, there were countless sweet and wholesome encounters that obviously didn't draw any headlines.

Of course, it was easy to imagine that the women were enemies. After all, Hollywood has a checkered history of pitting successful women against each other. But there was more than just this sexist trope at play.

Lively and Kendrick have less-than-glowing reputations for how they... get along with others. In the case of Shallows star Lively, she is known for her rumoured feud with Gossip Girl co-star Leighton Meester. Despite starring as besties Serena and Blair for six seasons, there was always said to be an odd energy between the young stars.

In 2017, this weird vibe was confirmed by Gossip Girl writer Joshua Safran.

"Blake and Leighton were not friends," Safran confirmed to Vanity Fair. "They were friendly, but they were not friends like Serena and Blair."

He highlighted the differences between the two Gossip Girl leads. "Blake is very much in the moment. Blake knows what's happening. She knows this movie's coming out, this band is happening. Leighton [on the other hand] was very removed and very quiet," he said.

In the aftermath of the It Ends With Us controversy, even more stories of Lively's supposedly rude behaviour began to surface in 2024.

And then there's Kendrick, who also has her own reputation for allegedly being rude to people. In one video, a TikToker called Tahira spoke about her experience working as a stylist for the actress on her book tour.

@iamtahira 3 STRIKES! BYEGIRL! #greenscreen #barneysnewyork #customservice #celebritystorytime #storytime ♬ Classical Music - Classical Music

She claimed that the Twilight star "won't speak to me, that's strike one... she won't say anything", Tahira alleged. She went on to say that Kendrick instructed that her fan mail be thrown in the bin, and said she would only wear the stylist's clothes for $15,000.

With these two women's reputations combined, it was almost too easy to imagine a personality clash between them.

But given they're happy to reunite for A Simple Favour sequel and press tour, this should be enough to quiet any more conspiracies that these two genuinely hate each other.

Feature image: Getty.

This article was originally published on April 28, 2024 and has since been updated with new information.

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