Fans Call Out Blake Lively For Being 'Rude' And 'Fat-Shaming' A Reporter After A 2016 Interview Goes Viral: 'This Is The Real Her'

In recent weeks, Blake Lively has faced considerable backlash for actions perceived as “tone deaf” and “out of touch. ” Critics have particularly targeted the Gossip Girl actress, 36, for launching a haircare line and promoting her new film, It Ends With Us , which deals with domestic violence but has been marketed with a tone akin to a romantic comedy.

Amid this controversy, a 2016 interview has resurfaced, featuring Lively, her co-star Parker Posey , and journalist Kjersti Flaa discussing the Woody Allen film Cafe Society . Many viewers of the clip are now accusing Lively of being “rude” and “fat-shaming” the reporter. Flaa, 51, recently uploaded her interview with the Age of Adaline star to YouTube, titling it: “The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job.”

Fans Continue To Denounce Blake Lively For ‘Fat-Shaming’ Reporter Kjersti Flaa In Viral 2016 Clip

When the video was recorded, Lively, who has been married to Ryan Reynolds since 2012, was pregnant with their second child. Today, the couple has four children . As the interview began, Flaa (who founded Content Now TV) said to Lively: “First of all, congrats on your little bump,” alluding to Lively’s pregnancy. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants alum then weirdly replied: “Congrats on your little bump.”

Given that the film was set in the 1930s, Flaa then inquired of Lively and Posey, 55, whether they relished donning the era-specific attire . Strangely, Lively didn’t even look at Flaa, only at Posey, and said: “Everyone wants to talk about the clothes but I wonder if they would ask the men about the clothes.” Flaa then said: “I would” as Lively and Posey continued to ignore her.

On social media, Flaa recently wrote: “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, recalling: “Is it not OK to congratulate someone on their pregnancy or to ask another woman about costumes she is wearing in a film?”

Flaa also told The Daily Mail that she was facing infertility at the time of the interview, making Lively’s comment about her “little bump” that wasn’t there all the more hurtful. “[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 said.

She added: “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 contentious video made a comeback on TikTok, where fans eagerly criticized Lively without hesitation.

One wrote that this clip showed “the real Blake Lively” as another concurred, writing: “this is the real her.” An additional commenter noted: “This is the true Blake Lively I fear.” Someone else added: “Watching the smile fade from the interviewer’s face broke my heart” as one other agreed: “People were always shocked when I said Blake had mean girl energy. I feel vindicated.”

On X (previously known as Twitter), numerous users persist in voicing their concerns over Lively’s treatment of Flaa (despite the A Simple Favor actress remaining silent on the matter and offering no apology to the journalist following the widely shared interview).

“[Lively was] pulling a mean girl session on this poor interviewer, while she is trying to do her job,” one tweeted. Another recently added: “Blake Lively kept snubbing the interviewer by ignoring her and talking like the interviewer was not in the room. It’s weird and petty-mean behavior.

Since the clip went viral, Flaa has told her followers that her first interview with Lively “affected me for a while, [I was] nervous when I was interviewing other people after that.” She also noted: “I blamed myself for it for a long time because I felt like I did or said something wrong. So that’s the reason why I waited so long [to post it].”

However, Flaa did explain that on that same day, she had another interview with Kristen Stewart (who also starred in Cafe Society with Lively). Flaa said that the Love Lies Bleeding star was “so sweet” and “saved her day.” Fans are continuing to comment on YouTube under a clip from that interview and compare the way Lively and Stewart both conversed with Flaa.

“The difference with kristen interview and blake lively is huge lol kristen is so kind,” one wrote as another replied: “This really shows how the interviewer was not the problem.”