A reporter who said she was ‘belittled’ by Blake Lively has shared that the actress’s ‘bump’ comment ‘felt like a bullet’ since she can’t get pregnant – and revealed the real reason why she decided to share the ‘traumatizing’ interview now.
Blake, 36, has been embroiled in controversy recently, as rumors of an ongoing feud between her and her It Ends With Us costar, Justin Baldoni, continue to make headlines.
Amid the drama, award-winning journalist Kjersti Flaa, 51, posted a clip of an ‘uncomfortable’ chat that she had with the Gossip Girl alum back in 2016.
During the interview, Kjersti congratulated a then-pregnant Blake on her impending arrival, but the actress seemed completely unamused with the comment, and replied with a sarcastic quip.
Now, Kjersti has spoken exclusively to DailyMail.com about how Blake’s response left her feeling ‘paralyzed’ and ‘like a complete failure.’
She said Blake made her feel ‘belittled and ignored’ throughout the entire sit-down, and ultimately, it resulted in her questioning if she ‘ever wanted to do these types of interviews again.’
The reporter, who is originally from Norway but now lives in California, also shut down speculation that she shared the video to distract from the backlash that Justin, 40, has been getting – a rumor that erupted on social media after fans noticed a strange connection between Kjersti and one of the other clients of the PR crisis manager that Justin hired.
‘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,’ Kjersti told DailyMail.com of the interview.
‘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.
‘It took me a while to get over it and build up my confidence again.’
Blake and fellow actress Parker Posey sat down with Kjersti back in 2016 to discuss their film Cafe Society.
But when Kjersti made a comment about the actress’s baby bump, things immediately turned tense.
First of all, congrats on your little bump,’ Kjersti, who is the founder of Content Now TV, gushed.
‘Congrats on your little bump,’ Blake fired back, as the interviewer giggled nervously.
Now, Kjersi told DailyMail.com that Blake’s response was especially hurtful because she cannot conceive.
‘[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,’ she shared.
‘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.
‘It 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 them behave like that. It made no sense to me.’
After Kjersi resurfaced the ‘uncomfortable’ interview on her YouTube channel, it sparked intense backlash against Blake.
But soon after, social media users began to wonder if she only posted it because she was part of a ‘smear campaign’ against Blake launched by Justin.
But Kjersi insisted to DailyMail.com that her decision to share the video now had nothing to do with the actor.
When asked if she uploaded the clip to help him, she stated, ‘No, not at all. I don’t know him.’
The Norwegian journalist said she became inspired after ‘another reporter who had a terrible interview experience with someone else’ contacted her to ask if she had ever endured ‘something similar.’
I was contacted by another reporter last week who had a terrible interview experience with someone else,’ she explained.
‘They confiscated his tape after the interview and he wondered if something similar had ever happened to me.
‘I told him about the horrible interview I had with Blake Lively and [said] that I never wanted to share it with anyone because the experience had traumatized me so much.
‘After talking to him I decided to post the interview on my YouTube channel because I think it’s time that people behaving badly in Hollywood, or anywhere else for that matter, gets called out for it. It’s not OK, even if you are rich and famous.’
Leading up to the release of It Ends With Us, rumors of a divide between Blake and Justin have swirled.
Amidst the speculation, Justin hired crisis publicist Melissa Nathan to represent him – a woman who previously worked with Johnny Depp during his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard.
But some online users pointed out that Kjersti is an avid support of Johnny’s, and spoke highly of him during the actor’s controversial courtroom showdown against his ex.
Back in 2022, Kjersti shared an old clip from 2014 that showed her chatting with him about his ‘biggest insecurities.’
And in the description of the video, she described Johnny as ‘the most polite and sweet’ person she had ever interviewed.
It’s exactly the opposite of what she did amid the It Ends With Us drama, as she branded her interview with Blake as the ‘most uncomfortable situation she had ever experienced.’
After Blake’s ‘bump’ comment, things only got more awkward when Kjersti asked the women her first question.
Since the movie took place in the 1930s, Kjersti wondered if they enjoyed wearing old-school clothes in the movie.
But Blake didn’t like the query, and as Parker started to answer, she interjected, ‘Everyone wants to talk about the clothes but I wonder if they would ask the men about the clothes.’
‘I would,’ Kjersti promised.
Then, the ladies started talking to one another rather than to Kjersti; she sat their awkwardly as the two ladies discussed some of their favorite outfits worn by men in the movie.
Kjersti uploaded a clip of the awkward encounter to her YouTube channel recently, and titled it: ‘The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job.’
‘Sitting down with Blake Lively and her co star Parker Posey for Cafe Society is the most uncomfortable interview situation I have ever experienced,’ she added in the caption.
‘Is it not OK to congratulate someone on their pregnancy or to ask another woman about costumes she is wearing in a film?’
The resurfaced interview quickly went viral, and it lead to Blake receiving intense criticism.
