By now, most of us have watched or read about that super cringe Blake Lively interview where she and Parker Posey are rude to Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa. After Kjersti congratulates Blake on her “little bump,” Blake snaps back, “Congrats on YOUR little bump,” even though it’s obvious that she’s not pregnant. Kjersti posted a follow up video to her YouTube page, explaining why she posted the interview. She also shared that despite being mean-girled by Blake earlier, her day was “saved” by Kristen Stewart, who came in to do press for the same movie, Café Society, immediately after the now infamous interview. Kjersti says that Kirsten was “sweet” and “wonderful.”
She wants to hold Hollywood bullies accountable: In a new video posted on Monday (19 August), the reporter thanked people who had been sending her supportive messages. She said that people who “bullied” and had “mean girl energy” should be called out in Hollywood and held to account.
KStew saved the day: “I want to shout out Kristen Stewart who was the person I interviewed after the horrific incident, and she was the most wonderful, wonderful person to interview. She saved my day, you know I was terrified walking into that interview because I had just experienced what I had, so for her to just treat me like, she was so sweet. So, I’m happy I interviewed her afterwards.”
Why she shared the Blake video: “I got so many questions from people asking why I decided to post that interview now, eight years later, and the reason for that is that I got contacted by another reporter who told me a story that was a little similar to this one that he had experienced and then we started talking about it and comparing notes. And then I felt like you know, it’s not ok to behave like that and I think it needs to be called out. Also, it took me a while to be honest with you to actually get over it, it affected me for a while because it made me nervous while interviewing other people after that.”
She didn’t know about the IEWU drama: “I blamed myself for it for a long time because I felt like I did or said something wrong and that’s the reason why I waited so long,” she said. “I actually hadn’t read up about all the other controversy that was going on.”
You can watch Kjersti’s interview with Kristen below, but the tone is completely different. Kristen’s answers, attitude, and body language are all way more friendly. There’s no snide responses. They talk a lot about Kristen’s early fame and how uncomfortable she used to be with it. It’s actually kinda crazy to see how much KStew’s relationship with fame has changed from those earlier Twilight years. I bet it really helped put Kjersti at ease to talk to someone who was nice and treated her with the respect that she deserved.
It’s also interesting that she claims to have had no idea about the drama surrounding It Ends With Us. Like, did she think she and her colleague were just having a random conversation about famous people being jerks during interviews? I’ve watched that part of the video twice and I can’t tell if the other reporter was also talking about Blake or someone else entirely. I wonder if he brought up his own negative experience because he knew what was going on with Blake and figured she did, too. The moral of the story is to just be kind and treat people how you’d like to be treated. In a world of Blakes, be a Kristen.
In the past, I’ve watched Scandinavian reporters interview American artists, whether actors or some other kind of celebrity, and they tend to be very respectful and kind in their behaviors and questions. The American media can be much more aggressive. Blake Lively AND Parker Posey accentuate the obnoxious, arrogant American trope that is still perceived by other countries. So embarrassing for the rest of us Americans who don’t act like that. I’m glad Kjersti Flaa had a better interviewing experience with Kristen Stewart. I have a soft spot in my heart for Kristen Stewart and always want her to do well.
Meh. I can’t stand Blake, I think she’s insensitive, lacks self-awareness, and is quite problematic.
I also can’t stand a pile-on, so I’m straddling the fence a bit.
Agree with the pile-on, sometimes it feels redundant. But then I think, my gosh if we don’t do this and we stop reminding people how awful people like Blake are, then nothing changes. Sick of sh*tty people just getting away with it because so many of us want to take the higher road.
There couldn’t be pile-on if she didn’t exhibit bad behavior often. If it were just a bad day and she were normally okay, it wouldn’t have drawn so much attention.
ITA about pile ons, but what really bothers me about that interview is Blake pretending to be a feminist, pulling that “they wouldn’t ask men about fashion” crap. Actually Blake, if you had the talent of a writer/director or renowned actor, they’d ask you more substantive questions too. The reporter wasn’t some Hollywood dbag belittling women. She tailored her questions to the subject matter.
I had no opinion of Blake, other than she is a bland actress who married well. After watching that CRINGE video and it was cringe, I do not like her and she is getting well deserved negative comments and backlash. We women keep touting the need to lift one another other up, and you see this video of a successful actress, who has grown up with more than others and is living with more than others (money wise), treat another woman in such a disrespectful and disgusting manner. Shame on Blake. And the bigger atrocity is the fact that this woman is raising daughters.
This is my take too. Blake isn’t known for lifting other women up. And she was being interviewed about a Woody Allen film. She should be grateful the reporter tossed her softballs. I would’ve asked what message it sends her daughters to work with a sexual predator who consistently makes movies about elderly men dating very young women.
I’m actually zero surprised by the so-called moody and aloof one ending up being a lot kinder and human than the apparently sweet and bubbly one. Never judge a book by its cover.
I wonder if Blake would have reacted differently if the interviewer had said “Congratulations on your pregnancy” instead. Maybe “little bump” made her feel weird or like she was carrying a growth people could see. Since her body is her big selling point , maybe the comment made her feel… sort of… possibly fat. I guess I might have apologized if I had realized my wording had made someone uncomfortable.
In the future I probably won’t be congratulating anybody on their pregnancies unless I’m required to sign a card. That’s what I’ve learned from this haha…
Yes, unless you are actually at someone’s baby shower, best not congratulate anyone on a pregnancy! I agree with everyone pointing out this reporter is a toxic Depp supporter so I don’t think there are any winners in this situation.
I’ve only been half following this so I have to ask – was she actually pregnant during this interview, and was that common knowledge? If so then I don’t find the question as rude, but if Blake walked in there 12 weeks pregnant and it wasn’t public knowledge and the reporter asked that then its a lot ruder IMO.
Blake announced her pregnancy to the world at the Met Gala weeks before the interview .
The comment was awkward, but English is not Flaa’s first language. I don’t think she was criticizing Blake’s body, more finding a clever way to congratulate her on her pregnancy. There is no way to defend the mean-girling Blake Lively and Parker Posse exhibited. I don’t think it advances women to make excuses for bullying behavior.
That’s fine if she’s offended by the “bump” part, but don’t body shame the journalist. Don’t snap back with an obviously rude comment because Flaa’s comment was not obviously rude. Correct her kindly and move on. She doesn’t come across as a good person no matter what, so stop trying. The “media Intrusion into ppl’s private lives” comment is so rich coming from attention junkies like her and Ryan. And like others mentioned, the pregnancy was announced earlier; Flaa was not just “assuming.”
Kind of funny because the public perception of Stewart is sort if problematic/bad girl, while Lively is all sweet/good girl , all the while in real life it seems quite the opposite. Just goes to show you never know how these people really are.
I’ve watched the clips of that interview and she just came across like a self centered snob who thought she was too good for the interviewer. Like…..you’re not the huge superstar you think you are, and even if you were, why are you acting like that? A lot of the big superstars are actually nice to reporters or people in their sphere that work for them etc. of course some (men and women) are aholes but there are lots of good stories about there about the big stars.
Blake just seems……like she thinks she’s bigger than she is? IDK.
Yeah. Stewart had top billing, not her. She’s always wanted to be a bigger star but it hasn’t happened (IEWU is probably her biggest role). She can take several seats after this mess and I wouldn’t miss her.
Shallow side note- this journalist Flaa is gorgeous. Looks even better than she did 8 years ago.
Not sure I’m buying the “kind of coincidental” timing? Stuff doesn’t work quite like that. I found Blake appalling during that interview. Triggering, even. I don’t agree that congratulations on a pregnancy from someone who speaks a different dialect of English, (and therefore may not translate perfectly) counts as “policing women’s bodies”. And it didn’t deserve that degree of rudeness. On camera.
I’ve held back on my thoughts on Blake. She’s probably a rude person. But I think there’s an element of her trying to be funny in the style of Ryan Reynolds, either because she lacks originality, or has absorbed his way of cracking jokes, over the years. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have what it takes to be funny, and it comes out even ruder than she intends. Anyone have thoughts?
I wonder if Kristen Stewart might have empathy for Blake and what she’s going through? Kristen had her own scandal cheating on Robert Pattinson with the married director of her movie. She was very young when it happened but with time people forgot about it and moved on. While I understand that may not be on par with whatever happened behind the scenes with It Ends With Us (because we still don’t really know what happened?), I could see Kristen being like “I know what this feels like” because she does.
I’m not really a fan of Blake, before all this I was pretty neutral and I’ve done a lot of side eyeing at her. But it’s possible she was tired, pregnant, it was a long day of press junket interviews, and the word “bump” just set her off. It wasn’t right for her to do that either but I’m not going to pile her on for this one instance… However if other interviews come to light like this one where she snaps due to a comment not about her pregnancy, I’m happy to be proven wrong. I’m not really sure this was really necessary to post from the Norwegian journalist and I can understand she was embarrassed and taken aback by Blake’s reaction and I’m glad Kristen was able to make her feel comfortable again. But it’s sort one of those things where my mom would be like “Let it go, just let it go. It was embarrassing okay, but just move on.” I don’t think it was really necessary to repost it to social media like she did. And I absolutely do not believe her she had no idea about the controversy It Ends With Us and it was all just a huge coincidence that she posted it when she did.
So I’m not going to pile on Blake for this interview from 8 years ago, but this whole awkward promotion for It Ends With Us and her behavior during it? Absolutely!
The interviewer sort of let the two ladies take over. She didn’t have good control— I think maybe being able to redirect the interview is a skill set a journalist or interviewer needs. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of celebrities act like this, but skilled interviewers probably get them back on track. Not sure if a cultural difference was at play though — maybe the interviewer erred on the side of being unobtrusive, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing ( if you can handle how it makes you feel).
I didn’t think Blake and Parker were great people to interview (obviously), but I came away thinking the interviewer was sort of timid for the type of profession she’s in. to be fair, I’m timid like that as well and wouldn’t have interrupted, but that’s also why I’m not an interviewer and would be too shy to interview outgoing celebrities haha. I think you have to be thick-skinned to deal with celebrities or athletes.
I think I was surprised the interviewer wasn’t a bit more assertive if she was bothered by the direction of the interview and where it was going.
She did well in letting them show who they really are. They were going to be nasty because she is in interview no one of consequence and can do as they want. Blake behaves like this in several interviews, but this one she had a minion..