‘Cruel’ Blake Lively allegedly made A Simple Favor assistant director cry repeatedly: ‘The reason I quit’
As the Blake Lively drama continues, an assistant director from A Simple Favour has alleged she was “cruel” and repeatedly made her cry.
Blake Lively was allegedly a mean girl on the set of A Simple Favor and is being accused of bringing one crew member to tears many times.
Barbara Szeman — who worked as an assistant director on the 2018 film, according to IMDb — appeared to call out the actress in a series of since-deleted comments on Henry Golding’s recent Instagram post about the movie’s sequel, Another Simple Favor, which is set to be released soon.
“I worked with you on the first one,” she told the actor, as reported by Page Six. “My experience with everyone was absolutely amazing, except for a certain someone who is the reason I quit being an AD.”
“Guess who that person is…,” Szeman then cryptically added without naming Lively, 37, before concluding, “I wish you all the best with this though!”
The initial comment garnered a lot of attention, which Szeman said she wanted to “avoid” but ultimately spoke out because Lively was allegedly “cruel to many.”
“I know I cried my way home many nights because you try so hard to please someone who is never pleased and puts you down constantly,” she further claimed.
“I can’t believe it’s actually getting back at her. Karma is real,” Szeman then wrote, referring to Lively’s ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni over their on- and off-set feuds while making It Ends With Us.
On her Facebook, Szeman appeared to have some regrets over coming forward given that her remarks had blown up all over social media, writing, “Last time I leave a comment on an Instagram post.”
A shocked friend then commented, “I didn’t know this!!! I had heard from people that she was so nice and lovely to work with – apparently not,” prompting Szeman to respond, “maybe for them. Not for me lol.”
The assistant director also “loved” a comment from another friend who wrote, “I’ve been thinking about you and this whole situation because you told me the stories so long ago. It’s good that you commented.”
Page Six reached out to Lively’s reps for comment on Szeman’s claims but did not immediately hear back.
The ill-timed comments come just as the Age of Adeline star is trying to clean up her reputation, given Baldoni’s claims that she was a nightmare to work with on 2024’s It Ends With Us.
The actor-director, 41, has filed a $400 million defamation and extortion lawsuit against his co-star, claiming she tarnished his name and affected his ability to make an income due to her allegations that he had sexually harassed her and hired a crisis manager in order to launch a smear campaign against her.
Lively, meanwhile, has filed her own lawsuit against Baldoni for sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and lost wages.
In her suit, she accused the Jane the Virgin alum of inappropriate behaviour such as adding more sexually charged scenes “outside the scope” of the pre-approved script, openly discussing his past porn addiction, walking in on her breastfeeding and inquiring about her weight.
Baldoni has denied any wrongdoing and released raw behind-the-scenes footage, private text messages and even launched a website in an attempt to prove his innocence.
His lawyer, Bryan Freedman, has also slammed Lively’s “smear campaign” claims, telling Page Six it was the actress’ “desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation, which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film, [and] interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions.”
Leading up to the release of It Ends With Us last August, several past interviews featuring Lively resurfaced online that painted her in a less-than-favourable light.
One entertainment reporter said she wanted to quit her career after sitting down with Lively during a press junket because she was a “nightmare” and called out her stomach “bump.”
Fans also criticised how Lively handled the sensitive topic of domestic violence while promoting her latest film.
Her team has said Baldoni’s lawsuit “is another chapter in the abuser playbook,” adding, “This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim.”
This article originally appeared in Page Six and was reproduced with permission.
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