Blake Lively interviewer reveals she was struggling with infertility during ‘traumatizing’ press junket
Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa has said Blake Lively’s “little bump” remark was like “a bullet,” as she was struggling with infertility during the “nightmare” interview.
Earlier this week, Flaa posted a clip of a 2016 interview with the actor and her Café Society co-star Parker Posey, which made her “want to quit” her job.
In the interview – which has since gone viral – the reporter opened the conversation by congratulating Lively, then 28, on her “little bump.” The Gossip Girl alum had just announced she was pregnant with her second baby with her husband Ryan Reynolds.
“Congrats on your little bump,” Lively sarcastically responded.
Reflecting on Lively’s retort in the wake of the controversy, Flaa, 51, told the Daily Mail: “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.”
She recalled feeling “almost paralyzed” in that moment, adding that she was “very uncomfortable” and wanted to “leave and get out of there.”
Once Flaa had the opportunity to begin the interview, she started by asking whether Lively and Posey enjoyed the fashion, which played a big role in a film set in the 1930s.
Lively is then seen ignoring Flaa, and instead turns to Posey to say: “Everyone wants to talk about the clothes, but I wonder if they would ask the men about the clothes.”
Although Flaa insisted that she “would” have asked the male actors the same question, Lively seems to ignore her as she continues to speak with Posey about the best outfits worn by the men in the film.
“It’s not just the women that have the clothes, but I feel like the women get the conversation,” Lively concluded.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Flaa said the interview “made me feel like a complete failure.”
“I kept going through the interview in my head afterwards trying to figure out what I had said or done to make [Lively and Posey] behave like that. It made no sense to me,” she said. “It was such a traumatizing experience to me.
“I was there to do a job, and they made sure to make it as difficult as possible for me to do that,” she continued. “I was there so they could promote a movie. I was invited to meet them. It certainly did not feel like that. I felt belittled and ignored, and it made me question if I ever wanted to do these types of interviews again.”
Lively did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment.
The interview comes amid growing speculation of an on-set feud between Lively and her It Ends with Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni.
Baldoni is recently reported to have hired Johnny Depp’s crisis manager, and PR veteran Melissa Nathan, according to Deadline.
It Ends with Us is out in theaters now.
