A Simple Favor Director Paul Feig Defends Blake Lively Amid Backlash: ‘Outrage Is Boring’

The anticipated release of A Simple Favor’s sequel has been smothered by Lively’s ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni, and Paul Feig is one of few to get to the actress’ side — here’s why.
It took a while for A Simple Favor’s sequel, now titled Another Simple Favor, to finally arrive on the screens, though everyone's excitement might have died down by the time the movie was released.
The story’s long-awaited continuation didn’t have much luck, swirled by all the disturbing details about the legal battle between the film’s leading actress Blake Lively and her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni.
Now that Another Simple Favor safely arrived on Prime Video, the movie’s director has finally taken sides, adding up to the list of Lively’s supporters.
Paul Feig Slams Audiences for Backlash Against Blake Lively
Months after the bombshell news about Lively’s lawsuit dropped, A Simple Favor and its sequel’s director Paul Feig spoke out about the matter for the first time, calling the audiences out for allegedly pointless accusations.
“When the gang on the internet get [up in arms] about something, it’s just like, guys, you don’t know what you’re talking about. I love working with Blake — she’s just the best,” Feig revealed in an interview with Esquire.
He also added that it’s “frustrating” to see people with no knowledge of moviemaking share their misconceptions about the actress’ work.
“Outrage is the most boring emotion humans have these days. When it’s towards something meaningful, that’s great. But people get outraged at everything. It’s like, this is what you’re angry about? There’s other things to be outraged about – please, go and help make the world a better place”, the director stated.
What Critics and Viewers Say About Another Simple Favor
- On Rotten Tomatoes, Another Simple Favor holds scores of 66% and 41% from critics and audiences
- On IMDb, the movie is rated 5.3/10
Released several days ago, the movie didn’t waste much time, still stunning the audiences with a posh background, but seemingly lacking everything that the first film was so praised for.
“Even the slightest wisp of critical thought will bring the house-of-cards plot tumbling down, but avoid thinking too much and it’s a frothy, sun-drenched bit of fun”, Empire Magazine’s Helen O’Hara wrote.
“The fun-filled summer vacays have arrived early with this gloriously silly sequel about murder, wealth porn and the inviolable, effervescent chemistry of Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick”, Times’ Kevin Maher added.
“I wanted to believe in the movie but unfortunately it did not deliver. Blake Lively was lackluster and didn't quite deliver like her other costars, which is important since she’s in most of the scenes. The wardrobe was hit or miss for her but when she missed the mark it was really, really bad. The incest part was disgusting and reaching for a reaction that didn’t want to land”, user Candelario H commented on Rotten Tomatoes’ website.
“Nothing makes sense, neither the plot nor the characters. It's filled with one cringe-inducing scene after another, resembling a high school play with inappropriate language. The script was so poorly written that even good acting couldn't redeem it. I watched out of curiosity, and it turned out to be worse than I had expected”, Marlene A chimed in.