Blake Lively was ‘cruel’ on the set of A Simple Favour according to assistant director

It Ends With Us isn’t the first time Blake Lively has made waves on the set of a movie according to an assistant director who said she left the industry as a result of the experience.

Blake Lively was allegedly a mean girl on the set of A Simple Favour 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.

“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!”

Barbara Szeman was an assistant director on A Simple Favour. Picture: IMDb

The initial comment garnered a lot of attention, which Szeman said she wanted to “avoid” but ultimately spoke out because the Gossip Girl alum 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.

LIVELY SUBPOENAES BALDONI’S PHONE RECORDS

Blake Lively has subpoenaed Justin Baldoni’s phone records and his associates in an effort to prove they allegedly launched a smear campaign against her.

According to Variety, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile were all subpoenaed by Lively’s lawyers, Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson, and asked to provide phone records belonging to Baldoni, his producer Jamey Heath, Wayfarer Studios co-founder Steve Sarowitz, publicist Jennifer Abel and crisis management expert Melissa Nathan.

“Phone records belonging to all of the individual defendants will expose the full web of individuals who were involved in the smear campaign against Ms Lively,” a spokesperson for the actress told The New York Post.

“Such records will provide critical and irrefutable evidence not only about who, but also about when, where, and how their retaliation plan came together and operated,” the statement added.

Baldoni wrapped filming “It Ends With Us” in early 2024 and began a press tour for the release in August, but fans were quick to point out that Lively, 37, did not do any interviews with him nor did they attend the premiere together. Picture: Jose Perez/ GC Images

Subpoenas were also reportedly sent to Cloudflare, Inc. and AOL for internet records to “show the involvement of different persons who might be playing key roles in digital retaliation,” according to Lively’s spokesperson.

Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman said: “They are asking for every single call, text, data log and even real-time location information for the past 2.5 years, regardless of the sender, recipient or subject matter.

“This massive fishing expedition demonstrates that they are desperately seeking any factual basis for their provably false claims. They will find none.”

‘EMOTIONAL STRESS’: BALDONI BREAKS DOWN AMID LEGAL FEUD

Justin Baldoni admitted he was “exhausted” from a year of “emotional stress” ahead of his legal battle with his “It Ends With Us” co-star Blake Lively.

In Monday’s episode of the “Gent’s Talk” podcast, which was recorded in November 2024, the director recalled vulnerably messaging his best friend and the president of his production company, Wayfarer Studios, to tell them about his “anxiety” and burnout.

“I told them that I wasn’t in the best place. I told them that I was exhausted, that I haven’t given myself time to recover or time to heal. I had an intense year — a lot of material success and a lot of emotional stress. It was very hard on me and my family,” he said.

Baldoni, 41, shared that he was “having some anxiety,” struggling with sleeping and was not feeling like his “full self.”

The “Jane the Virgin” alum explained that he wears “a lot of hats” because he enjoys his job and the production company he has built.

“I love the people who work for us. I love the movies we make,” he added. “I love the impact we have, and yet, sometimes it’s easy to … fall back into our programming and be swept away by the current of self and be kind of overtaken by the wave of success and opportunity.”

Elsewhere in the newly released interview, Baldoni briefly discussed falling short, acknowledging he was “a work in progress” but has always striven to be “radically sincere and authentic.”

“I can get lost in the same way that everybody gets lost, but healing isn’t linear,” he said.

Baldoni wrapped filming “It Ends With Us” in early 2024 and began a press tour for the release in August, but fans were quick to point out that Lively, 37, did not do any interviews with him nor did they attend the premiere together.

The “Gossip Girl” star then filed a sexual harassment complaint against the actor in December that also accused him and his agents of running a smear campaign to ruin her reputation.

At the time, the New York Times covered the filing, which included shocking allegations that higher-ups working on “It Ends With Us” had to have an “all-hands” meeting to warn Baldoni not to show Lively “nude videos or images of women” and not to talk about her weight.

Later that month, the “A Simple Favor” star filed a formal lawsuit against the “Five Feet Apart” director for sexual harassment, retaliation, emotional distress and invasion of privacy, among other claims.

Baldoni denied the allegations against him and also sued the Times for libel.

“The Times story relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative, lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives,” his lawsuit read.

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are seen on the set of "It Ends with Us". Picture: Jose Perez

The newspaper, however, defended its reporting, telling Page Six it was “based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article.”

Baldoni filed another lawsuit in January, this time for A$636 million against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, who was present for a pivotal meeting about the movie’s script.

The filmmaker has since made several attempts to defend his reputation and refute the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” star’s claims, including by releasing raw footage of them dancing on set and launching a website with their alleged text messages.

Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman recently claimed his client has been “devastated financially and emotionally” by the duelling lawsuits, which are scheduled to go to trial in March 2026.

Originally published as Blake Lively was ‘cruel’ on the set of A Simple Favour according to assistant director