The New York Times /
Kjersti Flaa claims that he never intended that his awkward encounter with Blake Lively would get so much attention. Flaa, a Norwegian journalist based in Los Angeles, had been talking to another Norwegian reporter about celebrity interviews gone wrong when her conversation with Lively, which took place during the 2016 press tour for the film Café Society, came to mind. .
In a recent interview, Flaa He said he had decided to post the tense exchange with Lively on YouTube to “see what happens.” The clip, which lasts four minutes and 17 seconds, is titled: “The Blake Lively Interview That Made Me Want to Quit My Job,” and has racked up more than 5.4 million views since it was posted in August.
In the clip, Flaa congratulates Lively, who had just announced her pregnancy, on her “little belly.” A visibly upset Lively responds: “Congratulations on your little belly.” Flaa was not pregnant.
Kjersti said he had coincidentally posted the clip while Lively was facing criticism for the tone of her press tour for the romantic thriller Breaking the Circle. The moment instigated a new wave of criticism against the actress. And Flaa, a little-known reporter, was suddenly everywhere.
“At that time, when I did that interview, I never wanted to publish it in YouTubebecause I knew that if I did, first, neither their publicists, nor their clients, nor the studio would probably invite me again,” the journalist stated. And second, I think that eight years ago the cultural landscape was different, and they would have attacked me instead of her, right?”
“If we did that interview or someone was rude to me, it was always the journalist’s fault,” Flaa continued. And I think that has changed. Now times are a little different.”
Also Anne Hathaway
When Flaa published another uncomfortable interview a few days ago, this time with the actress Anne Hathawaythe internet seemed to have turned against the interviewer, with some comments accusing her of trying to profit from the cancellation of female celebrities.
In the clip of the interview, which Flaa published on his personal channel YouTubeasks Hathaway to sing her answer to a question during a 2012 press event for Les Misérables: “Well, I won’t do that, but you’re more than welcome to sing,” she replies. Hathaway with coldness.
After Flaa shared the video, Hathaway contacted her directly to apologize: “She sent me a long email explaining what she was going through at the time, when she did the interview, and apologized for giving me a horrible interview.” , basically,” Flaa said in a follow-up video. It moved me a lot. Just talking about it makes my eyes water, because I was so grateful that he did that.”
Call it vanity, or perhaps professional self-preservation, but most journalists are only willing to share interviews in which they appear serious, competent and calm under pressure. And while Flaa has posted dozens of videos that don’t include awkward moments, the clips that have received the most attention—and for which she’s becoming known—are of the more uncomfortable variety. What exactly do you hope to gain and what are you afraid of losing?
There’s a reason “you can’t find many of these on the internet, right?” —Flaa commented—. Because journalists are worried that if they publish things that make the famous person look bad, they will be punished for it. If I don’t get invited to many of these typical press tours anymore, that’s okay. I mean, I have other interviews where people were rude. We’ll see if I publish them or not. I don’t want negative reactions. “I don’t want to be a person who hurts people, that’s terrible.”
Good start
Kjersti Flaa He said he would feel good if this started discussions about how to treat people with respect.
“I think that’s my main message: be respectful of others, no matter where they are from or who they are,” he said.
Flaa, who moved to New York in 2007 to work as a freelance journalist for Norwegian media (“I was a Sex and the City fan”), is no stranger to starting arguments. In August 2020, he filed a lawsuit against the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, accusing it of operating as a “cartel” and scheming to block his membership. (The association denied the accusations). Although the lawsuit was ultimately dismissed, the discussion it helped spark over the organization and the diversity of its members ended up leaving the Golden Globes without a television broadcast in 2022.
“I’m not doing this just for me, I’m doing it because I know many other journalists who have gone through something similar.”
Using old celebrity interviews on his YouTube channel, Flaa said he wanted to start discussions around topics — like toxic workplaces — that are typically swept under the rug.
“I think a lot of times, especially here in Hollywood, people don’t talk about things and never apologize because that’s inconvenient. And I think it’s terrible that it’s like that, and that people don’t come forward and talk about things. And there are so many enablers here, as we have seen in so many recent incidents, that no one dares to come out and speak.”
“That is hurting a lot of people,” added the journalist. So, yeah, hopefully I can contribute to something like that, so that people can come forward and talk about things, it would be amazing.”
