The journalist who was body-shamed by Blake Lively says she’s terrified to talk to other celebrities.

• A re-edited interview between Blake Lively and journalist Kjersti Flaa has gone viral on YouTube.

• Flaa said Lively’s behavior during the “Café Society” interview left her feeling anxious.

• The interview’s resurgence coincides with the backlash over Lively’s promotion of “It Ends With Us.”

The journalist who gave a viral interview in which Blake Lively was dismissive says the experience made her nervous about future interactions with celebrities.

Kjersti Flaa interviewed Blake Lively about the film “Café Society” in 2016. She didn’t share the video publicly until August 10, when she uploaded it to YouTube with the title “The Blake Lively Interview That Made Me Want to Quit My Job.”

In the video, which has over 3 million views at the time of writing, Lively lashed out at Flaa after the Norwegian journalist congratulated her on her pregnancy.

“First of all, congratulations on your little belly,” Flaa said, kicking off the interview.

“Congratulations on your “Little bump,” Lively replied. (Flaa wasn’t pregnant.)

Later in the interview, Lively challenged Flaa for asking a question about clothing. The actress appeared to ignore Flaa for most of the interaction and turned her body toward her co-star Parker Posey.

“It actually took me a while to recover from that experience,” Flaa told Business Insider in an email published Monday.

“Every time I walked into a room after that, I was afraid that something similar might happen again,” she wrote. “The fact that I still don’t understand what triggered this behavior made it even harder. For a long time, I thought it was my fault. I’ve met some moody celebrities, but nothing like that interview.”

Flaa said in an interview with MailOnline that Lively’s comment was particularly hurtful because she was unable to conceive.

“It’s true that comment hurt me because I was never able to have children of my own, but of course Blake didn’t know that, so I can’t blame her for the pain I felt,” she told BI.

“That aside, I think she sent me that comment to make me feel bad. There’s no other way,” she added.

Flaa said in another YouTube video she uploaded Monday that the experience initially made her nervous about interviewing Kristen Stewart, who also starred in the film.

“I want to thank Kristen Stewart, the person I interviewed after this horrible incident,” Flaa said.

“She was the most wonderful person to interview. She saved my ass, and you know, I was terrified to go into that interview because I had just been through what I had been through,” she said, adding that Stewart was “so sweet.”

Flaa finally met Lively again in 2018 at the press junket for “A Simple Favor” with Anna Kendrick. The interview seemed relaxed, with no mention of the previous interaction.

Fans pointed out the difference in Lively’s demeanor during the second interview.

“It’s weird to see her trying to be nicer than last time,” one person commented on the YouTube video.

“The irony is that Blake doesn’t even remember this is the woman she bullied,” wrote another.

Lively’s reputation took a hit

The resurfaced interview coincided with the backlash Lively received while promoting her new film, “It Ends With Us,” about a woman who is a victim of domestic violence.

Some commentators said Lively’s promotion of the film was too light, while others accused the actress of using it as an opportunity to promote her beverage line and hair care line.

“Gather your friends, wear your flowers and go out and see it,” Lively said in a promotional video that has been making the rounds on TikTok.

Brand strategist Desislava Dobreva and Jake Holyoak, managing director of public relations agency One March, told BI that Lively’s reputation could be repaired if she issued a detailed public statement responding to the criticism.

Lively has not publicly responded to Flaa’s comments or the criticism surrounding “It Ends With Us.” However, she did share a resource from the National Domestic Violence Hotline on her Instagram Story on August 13.

Flaa told BI that she was unaware of the controversy surrounding Lively when she published the 2016 interview and had “no idea it would get this much attention.”

“Looking back, I think I handled the situation the best I could,” Flaa said. “In these kinds of situations, you always blame the journalist if something goes wrong. It’s never the talent’s fault, no matter what.”

Blake Lively’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

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