When you think of some of the hottest stars in Hollywood, actors Anna Kendrick and Blake
Lively might come to mind.
The two friends played frenemies in the film, A Simple Favor, but some have wondered about
their dynamic in real life.
Here's what's going on between them.
While A Simple Favor came out back in 2018, rumors of a nasty feud between Blake Lively
and Anna Kendrick didn't actually surface until April 2021.
A popular TikTok user named celebritymemoirbookclub posted a video reporting on claims that, by
the time the film wrapped, the two stars weren't speaking.
"They were basically enemies, and their press tours had to be booked separately."
When fans questioned the allegations, the TikToker posted another clip, saying that
she got the tea from a studio staff member.
She then showed a screenshot of a direct message she'd since received from someone else who
claimed to have worked at the film's production company, Lionsgate.
This anonymous source wrote,
"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.
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 TikTok star took it further by pulling up some interviews that Lively and Kendrick
did together, where they seemingly shared some awkward moments.
The speculation even took over a Reddit thread.
At the time of this video, neither Lively nor Kendrick have publicly commented on the
rumored feud.
Kendrick and Lively may have been hit with feud rumors in 2021, but during their press
tour for A Simple Favor three years earlier, they actually seemed to really like each other.
Lively even recalled in a joint BuzzFeed interview that she was nervous to meet Kendrick back
when they were in their late teens, after seeing her in 2007's Rocket Science.
"Like all seats on this vehicle, yours has been paid for with taxpayer money, which means
that I or anyone else has just as much right to it as you do."
Lively told Kendrick that she was impressed by her performance, saying,
"You were just so good and I was just like, 'Oh you're so funny and charming.'
I was like, 'Wow, this girl's really cool.
When somebody's so sharp and so funny and so smart, [...] you can tell that's coming
from their mind and not from the script."
Kendrick seemed just as fond of Lively, and admitted that they got along even better than
she expected, revealing to Harper's Bazaar,
"I thought she was incredibly sweet and kind.
Then getting to know her a little better, it was nice to find out about her sense of
humor.
She's got a dark side, a sarcastic side, and that's great because [...] how are you going
to get along with them for an entire movie when you have my brain?
So that was fantastic."
Kendrick also told Lively during their BuzzFeed appearance,
"It was great to have that kind of partner-in-crime vibe with you."
Lively and Kendrick definitely had a witty and sarcastic banter while promoting A Simple
Favor, which some may have misconstrued as tension between the two.
Yet, it appears it's just a dry sense of humor, which both actors share, that came out during
their press tour.
In their interview with BuzzFeed, Lively and Kendrick told a story about how Lively's call
time on set was once pushed back while Kendrick's wasn't, which is something she felt embarrassed
about, since it turned out that Kendrick had been waiting for her.
Kendrick quipped,
"That was the day I decided I hate you.
[...] We were all talking s**t about you."
Sure, some might read that as a dig at Lively, but it appears it was all in jest — especially
considering how Kendrick was also seen teasing Lively in a sit-down with MTV News.
“And thought she seemed nice, and little did I know."
In another joint interview, Lively jokingly called Kendrick an egomaniac and suggested
that she was blocked by her on Instagram.
It appears that the mutual teasing was part of their routine when it came to doing press
— a fitting move, considering they were promoting a dark comedy.
When Lively and Kendrick weren't teasing each other during their press tour for A Simple
Favor, they were coming for Lively's husband and fellow actor, Ryan Reynolds.
Kendrick and Reynolds had previously worked together on the 2014 film, The Voices, but
Lively joked about how she seemed to have stolen Kendrick for herself when she wrote
in a now-deleted Instagram post,
"[Anna Kendrick] is the hotter, female(r) version of my husband.
So would it really count as cheating?"
To which Kendrick replied,
"I let Ryan have Deadpool.
He can give me this."
Lively even joked about her husband and Kendrick's similarities when Entertainment Tonight inquired
about it.
"Um, mostly in bed I find that —."
Kendrick also teased Reynolds at the 2018 Teen Choice Awards, when she nabbed the surfboard
for favorite celeb Twitter personality.
She said in her acceptance speech,
"I have so much fun on Twitter.
[...] And I know that Ryan Reynolds was nominated, so in your face, Ryan!
I beat you!
Stay in your lane!"
Kendrick later revealed to Entertainment Tonight that she had sort of apologized to Reynolds,
but added,
"But I did sort of admit that there was part of me that was not just doing a bit and was
genuinely really excited that I beat him."
While some may be amused by Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively's sarcasm, there were others
who were apparently rubbed the wrong way by the actors.
Let's start with Kendrick, who was called out in the aforementioned TikTok video by
“celebritymemoirbookclub”.
The TikTok user alleged that Kendrick has a reputation for being rude to waiters, bartenders,
and even fans.
Then there's another TikTok clip that went viral, in which TikToker “I Am Tahira”
— who rated celebrities she's worked with as a stylist — gave Kendrick a -100/10 and
called her a terrible person.
Tahira claimed in follow-up videos that Kendrick wouldn't interact with her directly, speaking
only through her PR agent, when working with her on a book tour event.
The user also alleged that Kendrick demanded $10,000 to wear clothes from a certain brand,
and further implied that Kendrick's people threw all of her fan mail in the trash.
The rumors surrounding Lively are a little less harsh, although Gossip Girl fans probably
already know that she and former co-star Leighton Meester never really got along.
One of the hit teen show's writers, Joshua Safran, even told Vanity Fair that Meester
and Lively weren't friends.
Suggesting that this may have been because the two were so different, Safran dished,
"Blake is very much in the moment.
[...] Leighton was very removed and very quiet."
While it's unclear whether either of these rumors are true or merely a misunderstanding,
it's still not a good look for either star.
If you believe another Hollywood rumor surrounding these two, then there's a fellow major star
who may be involved in Lively and Kendrick's alleged feud, and that would be music sensation
Taylor Swift.
Turns out that the singer-songwriter and Lively are pretty much besties.
The two have not only gone on trips together and posted about their love for each other
on Instagram, but Swift has even used Lively and Ryan Reynolds' kids' names in several
of her songs.
Star Magazine reported that Lively's friendship with Swift led to a problem between Kendrick
and Lively on the set of A Simple Favor.
A crew member claimed that Kendrick teased Lively for being a part of Swift's famous
girl "squad," and Lively didn't like it.
The source further alleged that the whole thing made Lively uncomfortable, adding,
"It's going to be a long shoot if Anna doesn't tone down the Taylor talk."
Yet, Gossip Cop suggested that there was never even a feud to speak of in the first place,
let alone one inadvertently inspired by Swift.
Case in point?
While shooting their film, Lively invited Kendrick to her intimate birthday party, and
Kendrick later gave her co-star a birthday shoutout on Instagram, calling her a, quote,
"partner in a laundry list of crimes."
Kendrick and Lively may have been too busy to hate each other while working on the set
of A Simple Favor, especially since the two admitted they had a hard time understanding
the film.
As Kendrick explained to Vanity Fair,
"I think Blake and I had a really similar experience reading the script for A Simple
Favor, because we could not put this script down.
There was a lot of, like, kind of going back and being like, is this a drama or comedy?"
Kendrick also revealed how that impacted their experience on set, saying,
"Blake and I got to set and basically every day asked each other like, 'What movie are
you in?
Cause I want to make sure that we're in the same movie.'"
"You two will clearly go to extraordinary lengths to take me down, and you know too
much."
Lively also spoke about this uncertainty to USA Today, sharing that when she read the
script,
"I was suddenly very confused because the script was a thriller, and yet Paul Feig was
making the movie.
I sat down with him and asked him if it was a thriller or a comedy, and he said, 'Yes.'"
"Now sweetie, stop, you've just been hit by a car."
Kendrick also told BuzzFeed that it was her most challenging role yet, and not just because
the starring duo didn't know what the tone of the movie was.
She admitted,
"Honestly, it was really challenging to try to make her [character] human — to make
that show through the cracks of the incredibly irritating facade that she puts on."
"First, tell me why you killed your father and sister?"
While these days the focus seems to be on whether Kendrick and Lively hated each other
while promoting A Simple Favor, at the time the movie came out in 2018, most people couldn't
help but ask about their onscreen kiss.
Kendrick shared with PrideSource,
"I remember Blake and I both feeling like neither of us wanted to be the aggressor in
the scene.
We definitely struggled to find that perfect balance of, there's just this moment and they
both get caught up in it and it's a little uncomfortable."
Kendrick also teased that Lively's husband, Ryan Reynolds, may have had some competition,
telling Entertainment Tonight,
"You need to keep them on their toes.
He's got a great lady and I just need to let him know that Blake's got options, you know
what I'm saying!"
Lively also spoke about her and Kendrick's kissing scene.
Saying that Kendrick had worked with Reynolds on another film.
"How many people do you talk to who have kissed both me and my husband?"
Kendrick and Lively nabbed the starring roles in A Simple Favor, but Crazy Rich Asians actor
Henry Golding also delivered a great performance, despite it only being his second movie at
the time.
"Were you intimidated?"
"Absolutely!
How could you not be?"
But while Golding was intimidated by Lively and Kendrick at first, he told E! that he
had a change of heart, saying,
"Those two girls are 110 percent, on and off the camera.
And that, I've heard, can be sometimes fleeting or rather rare in the industry.
To have people who, even when they're standing on the side, give everything to get the best
performance out of you — really is a testament to who they are as actresses and why they're
so successful.
I love them to death."
True to form, however, Golding's co-stars teased him during the press tour, too.
During a joint interview with Entertainment Tonight, Kendrick joked to Golding,
"There were times when we would be rehearsing a scene and you would stop and you would just
go, 'Sorry, I forgot my line.
I'm just really nervous.'
I was like, 'Why is he nervous?
Is he having, like, a medical issue?'
And then I was like, 'Oh my god, it's his second movie!'"
Kendrick assumed that she'd probably like Lively since she got along with Ryan Reynolds
when they appeared together in the 2014 film, The Voices.
Kendrick told Entertainment Tonight,
"I worked with Ryan on a film and I think when you meet their spouse you're like, 'Well
they're not gonna be terrible because Ryan's the greatest guy.'
So I kind of had some confidence going in based on that."
Kendrick also explained on Late Night with Seth Meyers why she thinks Lively and Reynolds
are the perfect couple, saying,
"Ryan's like, very dark and funny.
And then when I finally worked with [Lively], I was like, 'Oh, she's really dark and funny
too, actually.'
So you know, they're just like, just sinfully good together."
As for Lively, she revealed in their BuzzFeed interview that she was especially excited
to work with Kendrick on A Simple Favor after she read the script.
She explained to Kendrick that Paul Feig, the director, quote, "really wanted to make
it more comedic and fun and playful but that didn't really necessarily make sense for the
script."
She went on,
"So as soon as he hired you, I was like, 'Oh, we're good.
All of the comedy and the levity and the acerbic wit will come through.'"
At this point, unless these two are just as good of actors offscreen, it's hard to believe
that Kendrick and Lively ever had a problem with each other.
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