Blake Lively expressed her gratitude for the fans who showed up to support her and her latest film Another Simple Favor amid her ongoing legal battle with former costar Justin Baldoni.
“Watching @asimplefavor opening night @sxsw felt like a rock concert,” the actress, 37, wrote via Instagram on Tuesday, March 11, alongside a photo of her from the premiere at the SXSW festival in Austin. “Thank you to the very best audience. Texas turns it out.”
Lively added that just being able to make the A Simple Favor sequel was already a sentimental achievement for her.
“Making this movie was already the gift, every element of it,” she continued. “To share it with you all and feel the love returned to us was the best feeling. Thank you for having us Austin.”
And in true Lively fashion, she gave Us the lowdown on her red carpet look.
“And yes. It’s latex 👗😊,” she concluded, referring to the ’50s-inspired mauve Renée Massoomian dress she donned for the occasion.
Another Simple Favor is the first movie release Lively has been a part of since her ongoing legal drama with her former costar and It Ends With Us director. In December 2024, Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, 41, accusing him of sexual harassment and attempting to launch a smear campaign against her.
Baldoni has denied the allegations and subsequently filed a counter lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and Lively’s publicist Leslie Sloane. Lively and Reynolds, 48, have denied Baldoni’s claims and Sloane has requested to be removed from the lawsuit.
Lively and Baldoni have been back and forth in court and have denied mediation attempts. A trial is currently scheduled for March 9, 2026.
Currently, Baldoni and Lively are waiting for the case’s judge to rule on the Gossip Girl alum’s request for a stronger protective order. During a March hearing, Lively’s attorneys claimed that Baldoni’s team “created improper disclosure of information.”
“We want to stop the public publication of this information, in the case, during discovery. The rules try and prevent the burden to be on the third parties,” Lively’s lawyer said in court. “We should not make the dozens of third parties run to the court for protection. We are supposed to reduce the burden on third parties. He should drop the third-party subpoena against the security firm that protects Lively and Reynolds.”
Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman denounced the claims in his own statement to the judge.
“These are matters of ‘for attorney’s eyes only’ restrictions,” Freedman said during the hearing. “This is a case where no one has any intention of harming Ms. Lively in any way. She detailed the sexual harassment claims and put that out there. My clients have been adjudicated as guilty right when this was filed. My client has a right to fight back and to defend himself. We want to agree to the protective order and place the burden on the party, who wants greater protection, to go to court and be transparent.”
Lively’s legal drama has been a hot topic. During the SXSW premiere, Lively’s Another Simple Favor costar, Anna Kendrick, was seemingly asked about how the news had impacted the movie. However, Kendrick played it low-key and dodged the question.
“Why? What happened? I did ayahuasca and the last year of my life has been gone,” she deadpanned in a chat with Variety before hyping up Another Simple Favor. “But I hear the movie is amazing.”
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