Blake Lively’s next career move following It Ends With Us lawsuit’s fate revealed

Blake Lively is currently caught in the middle of a media firestorm over her allegations of sexual harassment against her It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni.

The actress, 37, has officially filed a lawsuit against the filmmaker and actor, 40, claiming not only uncomfortable on-set behavior, but also an attempt to malign her public reputation.

The fallout from the lawsuit has spilled over into their other career moves as well, although a figure close to Blake is shutting that down.

Blake causes delay?

An X user took to the social media platform on Friday, January 10 to claim that Blake’s upcoming sequel to the 2018 hit A Simple Favor, co-starring Anna Kendrick, has been “shelved.”

They 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 isn’t just a movie — it’s an implosion,” the tweet read, going on to share sources based on reported insiders.

Her director speaks out

However, amid backlash from fans, A Simple Favor and A Simple Favor 2 director Paul Feig took to X to summarily shut down such claims.

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

He further shared some details on the upcoming project, praising Blake for giving a strong performance, writing: “The movie is awesome, and Blake and Anna turn in amazing performances. I can’t wait for you all to see it. Stay tuned for more details. Simple Favor 2 is coming soon!”

Filming for the sequel ended in May 2024, and when the original poster questioned why the movie hadn’t been promoted yet, Paul added: “My friend, it’s called post production, which generally takes over half a year at least when you factor in editing, scoring, special effects, sound mixing, close captioning and all the technical quality control that has to be done.” 

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“Our post schedule always had us finishing everything by mid-January. Movies don’t come out the second they’re finished because the studio spends the previous year deciding the best date to release it.” 

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He concluded: “We’ve always planned on something in the spring/summer of this year. That’s how movies work. I hope this helps.”

MORE: Ryan Reynolds shares message with his daughter amid Blake Lively lawsuit

Blake’s response

While Blake herself hasn’t commented on the matter, since the lawsuit was filed, she has maintained a low profile. Her only social media activity since has been to share resources and drive support for those affected by the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.

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Her husband Ryan Reynolds, meanwhile, made his first public appearance since the lawsuit on January 7 at the National Board of Review Awards in New York City. He did not speak directly of the situation, but delivered a speech introducing the night’s Best Picture winner, Wicked.

Justin, in turn, has also maintained a low profile, but did sue the New York Times for their story making public the details of the lawsuit and apparent text chains between the Jane the Virgin star and his PR team.