The Awkward Interview That's Coming Back To Haunt Blake Lively

This article contains discussions of domestic violence.

The drama surrounding "It Ends With Us" has been all over social media since the film's August 9 release, and now, an old interview is circulating that paints Blake Lively in a fairly unflattering light.

While Lively and her co-star were promoting their 2016 film "Café Society" — which, as it happens, was written and directed by Woody Allen, who's also no stranger to controversy — they sat down with Kjersti Flaa, who posted the entire exchange to YouTube with the caption "The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job." Lively was newly pregnant during the interview, and Flaa congratulates the star on her "little bump," at which point Lively responds, "Congrats on your little bump!" She and Posey go on to make jokes about "bumps" on their bodies, but it also gets a little weirder from there.

Asked about the costumes, Lively wonders if the male actors in the film, including Jesse Eisenberg and Corey Stoll, are asked about their costumes, and then she and Posey go off on a tangent — without Flaa participating — about the overall design of the movie. It's definitely awkward. As Flaa writes in the video's description, "Is it not ok to congratulate someone on their pregnancy or to ask another woman about costumes she is wearing in a film?"

Social media reactions to this 2016 interview with Blake Lively are definitely mixed; some fans are defending the "Gossip Girl" star, while others are using it as evidence that she's behind the alleged "It Ends With Us" drama. On X (formerly known as Twitter), @_RandomJ_ wrote, People defending Blake Lively here are wild. Her pregnancy at this point was announced. The full video is far worse than this clip, as Blake refuses to acknowledge the interviewer for most of the interview. Kjersti Flaa is better than me. I woulda cussed Blake out on camera. @quillfountain agreed, writing, "'congrats on your little bump' despite Kjersti Flaa (the interviewer) never confirmed her pregnancy is rude on Blake's part. It normalizes and trivializes bodyshaming. Also, the fact she mostly ignored Kjersti to have a conversation with her co-actress adds insult to injury."

Not everyone thought Lively was at fault here, though. @effoff1988 posted a lengthy thread about the matter beginning with the statement, "Few things I hate more than clout chasers like Kjersti Flaa jumping on hate bandwagons when that's the trend of the week. Blake Lively had a questionable approach to how to handle press for her latest film. True. Starting a constructive conversation about that, is fair." @urbanbatfitters pointed out that Lively was correct about the double standard: "Kjersti Flaa is such a joke. That 2016 interview with Blake Lively and Parker Posey she shared? Yeah, that was the height of women in Hollywood refusing to answer sexist and invasive questions such as comments on baby bumps, relationships, and costuming, when those same questions were not asked of men."

Okay, let's back up. Why is everyone so laser-focused on Blake Lively's behavior during press tours, and what does it have to do with her latest film "It Ends with Us?" Lively stars in the film as florist Lily Blossom Bloom opposite Justin Baldoni ("Jane the Virgin"), who plays Lily's love interest Ryle Kincaid. Unfortunately, Lily soon discovers that Ryle is abusive, echoing the relationship between her parents (which we see in flashback with Isabela Ferrer as a young Lily), and has to find a way to end the cycle of generational trauma and abuse ... particularly when the two have a daughter.

The drama appears to be centered around Lively and Baldoni — the two have done basically zero press together, and Baldoni also seems to be isolated from the rest of the main cast to boot. Baldoni has focused on the film's darker themes, while Lively has used her press tour to discuss both the themes of the film and her new haircare line; her husband Ryan Reynolds has also been heavily involved while promoting his own film "Deadpool & Wolverine." Because of this perceived conflict, people are digging up "evidence" against Lively and Baldoni alike, and this resurfaced Kjersti Flaa interview is a symptom of that.

"It Ends with Us" is in theaters now.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.