Reporter calls out Blake Lively for ‘uncomfortable’ interview that made her ‘want to quit’

Journalist Kjersti Flaa has called out Blake Lively for an interview she carried out with the It Ends With Us star in 2016.

It Ends With Us, based on the novel by Colleen Hoover, starring Lively and directed by co-star Justin Baldoni is in cinemas, but has been subject to controversy over a “tone-deaf” marketing campaign and reported tension between to the film’s two leads.

As such, Lively and Baldoni are under intense scrutiny as fans try to piece together what might have happened on set, if anything. Reports indicate that Lively and Baldoni clashed over different edits of the film before it was released, and further stars including Jenny Slate have sidestepped questions over working with the director.

But now a resurfaced interview with Lively for 2016’s Café Society has sent some heat her way, too.

Journalist Kjersti Flaa, who conducted the interview with Lively and co-star Parker Posey, uploaded the clip on 10 August to her YouTube channel under the title: ‘The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job.’

Things do not get off to a flying start when Flaa begins the interview by congratulating Lively on her pregnancy. At the time, the It Ends With Us star was expecting her second child with Deadpool & Wolverine‘s Ryan Reynolds.

“First of all, congrats on your little bump,” Flaa said to Lively, to which the actress oddly replied: “Congrats on your little bump.” Flaa was not pregnant.

The interview continued with Flaa asking the pair if they enjoyed experiencing the fashion of the 1930s, when the move is set. Instead of answering the question, Lively turned to Parker and loudly said: “You know, everyone wants to talk about the clothes, but I wonder if they would ask the men about the clothes?”

The rest of the video features Lively speaking almost exclusively to Parker, rather than to Flaa.

The caption for the video reads: “Sitting down with Blake Lively and her co star Parker Posey for Cafe Society (2016) is the most uncomfortable interview situation I have ever experienced.

“Is it not ok to congratulate someone on their pregnancy or to ask another woman about costumes she is wearing in a film?”

While some fans have piled on Lively for her supposed “mean girl” behaviour in the interview, others have suggested that the timing of the video resurfacing could have something to with Baldoni reportedly hiring expert crisis PR guru Melissa Nathan, who represented Johnny Depp during his trial with Amber Herd.