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Blake Lively attends ‘Another Simple Favor’ SXSW premiere amid Justin Baldoni legal drama

Blake Lively has made a simple appearance.

The actress, 37, attended the world premiere of her upcoming movie “Another Simple Favor,” at South by Southwest Film & TV Festival in Austin, Texas amid her ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni.

Lively starred in the first thriller/comedy “A Simple Favor” seven years ago with Anna Kendrick.

“Another Simple Favor” poster. ©Amazon/Courtesy Everett Collection

Director Paul Feig previously revealed Lively would join “most” of the cast already at the festival on Friday.

“Blake is the greatest,” the filmmaker, 62, said to Variety on Thursday.

“I couldn’t love her more,” Feig gushed. “She’s a dream to work with. She’s a great collaborator. She has amazing ideas and it open to everyone’s ideas. She’s a pro.”

Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively in “Another Simple Favor.” ©Amazon/Courtesy Everett Collection

Lively’s appearance at SXSW marks only the second time she stepped out in public since her legal fight with Baldoni, 41, began.

Last month, she and husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, walked the “SNL” 50th anniversary special red carpet shortly before the “Deadpool & Wolverine” actor joked about the “It Ends With Us” saga during the live broadcast that night.

In a segment where Tina Fey and Amy Poehler took questions from the star-studded audience in Studio 8H, Poehler, 53, called on Reynolds, who was sat next to Lively.

“Ryan Reynolds, how’s it going?” the “Parks and Recreation” star asked.

Reynolds quipped: “Why? What have you heard?”

Just days before Lively attended SXSW, she and Reynolds asked a judge to shield their messages with “high-profile” friends from Baldoni and his publicists.

The “It Ends with Us” director released text exchanges between him and Lively earlier this year that mentioned her close friend Taylor Swift.

The “Gossip Girl” alum referenced the singer, 35, to the “Jane the Virign” star in an alleged text where she called herself Khaleesi from “Game of Thrones” and referred to Reynolds and Swift as “my dragons,” per Baldoni’s lawsuit.

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds attend the ‘It Ends With Us’ premiere. REUTERS

“If you ever get around to watching Game of Thrones, you’ll appreciate that I’m Khaleesi, and like her, I happen to have a few dragons,” Lively allegedly texted.

“For better or worse, but usually for better,” another alleged message read. “Because my dragons also protect those I fight for. So really we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. you will too, I can promise you.”

At a virtual hearing, a lawyer for the couple asked Judge Lewis Liman to only allow the attorneys on the case to see the texts with prominent people from Lively’s time working on “It Ends with Us.”

Justin Baldoni speaks onstage at the Vital Voices 12th Annual Voices of Solidarity Awards. Getty Images for Vital Voices Global Partnership

But the names of who would be shielded were not revealed.

Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, called the pair’s proposal “unnecessary,” and “offensive that anyone would suggest that we would disregard a protective order.”

Freedman added that Lively and Reynolds’ plan would unjustly treat “celebrity people,” and “people who are powerful in the industry,” differently from others.

Lively originally sued Baldoni in December for $250 million, claiming he sexually harassed her while filming, and proceeded to launch a smear campaign after she spoke out about her alleged mistreatment.

Baldoni, who both co-starred in and directed the movie, denied her accusations, and he and his publicists countersued Lively and Reynolds for $400 million, alleging she defamed and extorted them.

Blake Lively at the world premiere of “It Ends With Us” in NYC on August 9, 2024. Getty Images for Sony Pictures
Justin Baldoni at the world premiere of “It Ends With Us” in NYC on August 9, 2024. WireImage

A trial in the case is scheduled for March 2026.

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