Anna, Blake, and a Very Bad Dress

Of all the premieres at SXSW this weekend, Another Simple Favor was the main event. Would it have been if not for all the drama with Blake Lively and her legal mess with Justin Baldoni? Of course not. But this is our current timeline and so it was inevitable that Friday’s event would be a major heatscore. This was Blake’s first proper premiere since It Ends With Us and all its subsequent criticism for how she promoted that movie. And of course given that she seems to be losing in the court of public opinion, this was also noteworthy for how she’d be interacting with fans … or haters. 

For the most part, it seemed pretty civil if not friendly while Blake was engaging with the crowd. And let me stop you if you’re about to “well actually” me about that person with the sign, I’m not using my platform to amplify a person whose previous takes have been sus as f-ck. You can go somewhere else for that. 

What is worth gossiping about, however, is the whole Anna Kendrick thing – because it wasn’t the fan behaviour that was the conversation but Anna Kendrick’s reaction on the carpet and how it’s being  interpreted by social media. It’s the “oh you know”… 

The anti-Blakes have seized upon this as evidence that Anna doesn’t f-ck with Blake, adding to rumours that began even before the It Ends With Us chaos that Anna and Blake have been feuding ever since the first movie, A Simple Favor. So now, many are taking Anna’s “oh you know” to be a smug satisfaction that a person she’s never liked is finally getting her comeuppance. 

There’s also this moment, when a reporter from Variety tries a roundabout way to get Anna to address Blake’s legal issues, and Anna finds a cheeky way out of it.

If you’ve been following Anna Kendrick throughout her career, this is very much on track for her. She’s razor quick, never obsequious, rarely fake…and if she is fake, it’s a double performance – like a winking lack of sincerity that mocks the very act of being insincere. 

She clearly wanted no part of Blake’s mess with Justin Baldoni, and bounced from the potential landmine in the most hilarious way possible. But then again, if you’re looking for gossip it would be that, well, Anna Kendrick is too smart not to know that this would be a story anyway. And why she chose to “oh you know” instead of a breezy and innocuous “had a great time!” is in itself curious. 

Paul Feig is trying to shut down the speculation that Anna and Blake hate each other but this is an exercise in futility. Those who want to believe that the two women aren’t cool will persist. Those who don’t think there’s enough to go on here will remain in the minority. And Amazon will have to continue to manage this madness over the next few weeks until the movie streams on Prime. Note that they’ve disabled comments on any posts about Another Simple Favor because of the toxicity that Blake is attracting right now. 

Very curious to see how the junket is going to go – if there even is one – and what the pairings will be for the interviews. It makes no sense for Anna and Blake to be separated since the whole premise of this franchise hinges upon their frenemism. If these two don’t do the junket together, that’ll be another major side-eye. 

Meanwhile, I’m side-eying Blake’s very bad dress. It’s latex, two looks layers, and the top one removed later on and the whole thing, from the dresses to the hair, for me, is terrible. And, frankly, not a great start style-wise, to this press tour. You’ll recall, her looks for The Simple Favor press tour were good, and did a lot to market the film. It was one of the few times I’ve enjoyed Blake’s wardrobe – and remember, she styles herself, mostly unfortunately. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I do not understand why people “wait for Blake” at the Met Gala, like she’s one of the shut down queens, in the same breath as Rihanna and Zendaya. How dare you? And it doesn’t count if you just showed up to this opinion after August of 2024 because I question your motives!