Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa recently opened up about a 2016 interview with Blake Lively that left her deeply hurt and questioning her future in journalism. Flaa, who cannot conceive, recounted the painful experience after a clip of the interview resurfaced on YouTube.
The video, titled “The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job,” captures a moment during the press tour for Café Society when Flaa congratulated Lively on her pregnancy, referring to her “little bump.” Lively, now 36, responded with a seemingly offhand comment, saying, “Congrats on your little bump,” not knowing the personal pain it would cause the reporter.
“[Her comment] left me almost paralyzed. To be honest, it hurts because I obviously wasn’t pregnant and I could never get pregnant, so to me that comment was like a bullet,” Flaa told the Daily Mail. “I didn’t know how to react. I felt very uncomfortable throughout the interview and all I wanted to do was leave and get out of there as fast as I could.”
The interaction continued to sour when Flaa asked Lively and her co-star Parker Posey if they enjoyed the film’s period costumes. Lively diverted the conversation, questioning why only women are asked about their clothes, while Flaa was left feeling belittled and ignored.
Flaa described the interview as a turning point that shook her confidence and made her question whether she wanted to continue in her line of work. “It took me a while to get over it and build up my confidence again,” she admitted.
The resurfacing of this interview clip comes at a sensitive time, amid the promotional activities for It Ends With Us, the highly anticipated film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, in which Lively stars and produces. The press tour has been clouded by speculation of tension between Lively and her co-star, director Justin Baldoni. Fans have noticed that Lively, Hoover, and the rest of the cast do not follow Baldoni on Instagram, though he follows them, fueling rumors of discord.
Adding to the intrigue, Baldoni recently hired crisis PR veteran Melissa Nathan, known for her work with Johnny Depp during his defamation trial against Amber Heard. This move has led some to speculate about internal conflicts within the film’s production team.
Social media users have questioned whether Flaa’s decision to share the old interview clip was part of a broader PR campaign against Lively. However, the journalist firmly denied these claims, explaining that she only revisited the interview after being asked by another reporter about her worst interview experiences.
Despite the backlash and the emotional toll of the past interview, Flaa remains committed to her work, though the scars of the 2016 exchange linger. “I didn’t share the interview with any other motive,” Flaa said. “I don’t know Justin Baldoni, and my decision to post the video had nothing to do with him.”
As the It Ends With Us press tour continues, all eyes remain on Lively, whose past interactions and current professional relationships are under intense scrutiny.
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