By now, most of us have seen Kjersti Flaa go a few awkward rounds with Blake Lively on the It Ends With Us press tour. What you might have missed is the total 180: Flaa’s old, genuinely sweet moment with Jennifer Aniston that’s suddenly back in circulation and reminding everyone that these junket rooms don’t have to feel like a firing squad.
The Aniston moment everyone’s sharing
Flaa posted a throwback clip on Instagram from her very first on-camera celebrity interview, back when she was fresh in New York and just trying to get her footing. In it, Aniston slows everything down to ask how to pronounce Kjersti’s name correctly. It is simple, respectful, and the kind of tiny kindness that lands when you are new and nervous. Flaa says that little interaction made her day. You can see why.
Fans immediately contrasted that vibe with the Lively interview. One comment pretty much captured the mood:
"The difference between a confident and proven genuine talented star and an insecure mean girl"
The Blake Lively clip that set the internet off
On YouTube, Flaa uploaded a 4-minute-17-second interview titled "The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job." The video opens with Flaa congratulating Lively on her pregnancy at the time (her fourth child). Lively shoots back, a little icy: "Congrats on your little bump." The air went frosty fast.
Later, Flaa asks about the wardrobe in the film. Lively replies:
"Everyone wants to talk about the clothes, but I wonder if they would ask the men about the clothes?"
Now, Lively’s public persona is usually quick-witted and unapologetic. Intent aside, this specific exchange didn’t land. The clip drew heat, especially given the timing: during It Ends With Us promo, when her press presence was already getting called tone-deaf next to a story about domestic abuse.
How people reacted
Viewers didn’t hold back, and they didn’t just single out Lively. Parker Posey, who was paired with Lively in that junket, caught strays too. A few representative comments under Flaa’s video:
"I love how the interviewer immediately picked up on their pompous, self-absorbed attitudes and let them shine for themselves. Excellent."
"This gave me flashbacks to how I was bullied in highschool. It’s a weird type of bullying where you’re constantly put down then ignored. Props to the interviewer for keeping it cool."
"This is a classic high school bullying method. Acting like you totally click with your bestie right in front of the 'third wheel' to make them feel as excluded and ostracized and rejected as possible."
About that pregnancy question rumor
There’s been chatter that Flaa was told not to bring up the pregnancy before the interview. She says that’s not true, and her caption was very clear about it:
"I was never told such a thing by anyone...FYI! If I was ever asked not to mention something during an interview - why on earth would I do that first thing - so they could confiscate my interview afterwards? (yes, they would do that)."
Flaa says she didn’t post to stir the pot
Later, in an interview with the New York Times, Flaa explained she wasn’t trying to pile on Lively during an already rough press cycle. In fact, she worried that years ago the clip would have backfired on her, not the celebrity. Her take on how the landscape shifted:
"Back then, when I did that interview, I never wanted to post it on YouTube, because I knew if I did, A, I would probably never be invited again by her publicists, clients or the studio again. And B, I think it was a different cultural landscape eight years ago, and they would have attacked me instead of her, right? If we did that interview or someone was rude to me, it was always a journalist's fault. And I think that has shifted. Now the times are a little different."
Not her first awkward room
Flaa also recalled a tense Les Miserables junket with Anne Hathaway years back. The difference there: Hathaway later apologized. Flaa says she has several uncomfortable interviews on tape but hasn’t decided whether to put them out.
How we got here, in one pass
- Flaa shares a sweet early-career Instagram clip where Jennifer Aniston carefully learns her name; fans love it and compare it to her rough interview with Blake Lively.
- Flaa posts the older Lively/Parker Posey junket (4:17) on YouTube, titled "The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job." Lively’s "Congrats on your little bump" and the clothes-vs-men question rub viewers the wrong way.
- Comments accuse Lively (and Posey) of mean-girl energy; Lively gets labeled bully/self-absorbed by some viewers amid an already prickly It Ends With Us press cycle.
- Flaa says she was never told to avoid pregnancy talk and explains to the NYT that she didn’t post the clip to provoke a pile-on; she actually feared backlash and industry blowback eight years ago.
- She’s had other awkward interviews (including one with Anne Hathaway, who later apologized) and is undecided on releasing more.
Final thought
Same format, wildly different energy. One quick name check from Aniston gets remembered for years. One frosty exchange with Lively and Posey gets remembered for all the other reasons. Where do you land on this one?