Blake Lively smiles alongside Another Simple Favour co-stars amid legal battle

US actress Blake Lively posed for photos in Chanel to promote the psychological thriller Another Simple Favour amid an ongoing legal battle with director Justin Baldoni.

Smiling alongside Pitch Perfect co-star Anna Kendrick and British actor Henry Golding, the 37-year-old Gossip Girl star wore a black and buttermilk Chanel cardigan with a leather mini skirt and boots, and black Chanel bag.

Lively sued her It Ends With Us co-star and director Baldoni in late December, alleging harassment and a co-ordinated campaign to attack her reputation, if she came forward about her treatment on the set.

Baldoni, who denies Lively’s allegations, later filed a counter-suit against Lively and her husband, Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds, for defamation and extortion.

A trial date is set for March 2026.

Lively is currently promoting the sequel to the 2018’s A Simple Favour, her first new movie since It Ends With Us.

The first movie followed Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick), a single mother running a parenting vlog who befriends a rich and secretive PR director, Emily Nelson (Lively), until one day she suddenly disappears.

The new film will see the return of Emily as she invites Stephanie to Capri in Italy for an extravagant wedding – with the trailer showing a montage of explosions, glamorous parties, and a body on a stretcher, and the words “revenge is a dish best served chilled, with a twist”.

Lively is best known for playing the socialite Serena van der Woodsen in the hit drama series Gossip Girl.

She portrayed Lily Bloom in the romance drama It Ends With Us, based on the novel by Colleen Hoover, that also touched on themes of domestic violence.

Another Simple Favour is due to come out on Prime Video on May 1.