Reporter Outs Blake Lively For "Mean" Interview, But Praised Johnny Depp—Is Justin Baldoni's PR Team Working Overtime?

The drama surrounding It Ends With Us continues.

Unfortunately, the rumors of "creative differences" and conflicts between co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have overshadowed the film's core message. It looks like there’s a full-blown PR battle between the two stars, with some news outlets portraying Baldoni positively (or negatively) and others doing the same for Lively. Are their PR teams working overtime to sway public opinion in their favor? You can read our analysis on that here.

However, Lively is facing even more backlash after Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa reignited old controversies with a viral throwback video from a 2016 interview. Lively's responses in this interview have been described as shockingly dismissive. TikTokers believe she's giving "mean girl" energy.

In the resurfaced interview, Flaa congratulates the Gossip Girl star on her "baby bump." Around that time, Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, announced their pregnancy at the 2016 Met Gala.

Lively congratulated Flaa on her own "little bump," even though the reporter was not pregnant. Flaa also asked about Lively's wardrobe, to which the IEWU lead turned to actress Parker Posey sitting next to her and asked if the interview would ask men about their costumes. "I would," Flaa said. But Lively didn't turn to acknowledge her, and neither did Posey. When the interview ends and Flaa thanks both actresses for their time, Posey rolls her eyes and Lively doesn't respond.

A close source has backed Lively, telling People, "You're a female journalist in Hollywood interviewing a working mom, and you can't come up with anything better to kick off the interview than 'Congrats on your little bump?' Of course Blake got annoyed."

"It's truly such a rude statement. She is pregnant with a child," they added. "If you feel the need to acknowledge that she's pregnant, at least do it respectfully."

X users also unearthed old comments by Flaa in which she praised Johnny Depp. "Johnny Depp is the most polite and sweet actor I have ever interviewed," she was quoted to have said years ago. "So incredibly present, so warm, so attentive, so humble. He stood up to greet me when I entered the room, and he did the same when I left."

Now, you might be asking, why does that matter? Amidst this media frenzy, Baldoni has enlisted crisis PR veteran Melissa Nathan, known for representing Johnny Depp during his trial with Amber Heard. Social media users are now connecting the dots, questioning whether Baldoni’s PR moves might echo the strategies used in Depp’s high-profile cases. "She was clearly called into active duty by the Baldoni/Depp PR team and she just jumped on the chance to assist them," speculates @effoff1988.

At the same time, a lot of people are still turned off by Lively's interview. @MariaArriola4 wrote, "We saw the interview so don’t gaslight us. She was rude."

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