Fans appalled over Blake Lively's 'awful' reaction to serious question (2024)

Blake Lively has been ferociously slammed online for turning an interviewer's serious question aboutdomestic violenceinto a 'joke' while promoting her new flick It Ends With Us.

The actress, 36, came under fire after she sat down for a virtual chat with Emmy award-winning reporterJake Hamilton alongside her costar, Brandon Sklenar, recently - and brushed off one of his queries regarding serious themes in the film.

The movie, which is based off Colleen Hoover's novel of the same name, follows a woman namedLily Bloom, played by Blake, who becomes embroiled in an abusive relationship with a man namedRyle Kincaid, portrayed by Justin Baldoni.

But when Jake asked the Gossip Girl alum if people who related to what her character went through could talk to her about it if they saw her in person, her sarcastic response left people across the web outraged.

Rather than encouraging domestic violence victims to seek help from professionals or sharing resources available to them, Blake laughed at the concept of making herself available to them.

'For people who see this movie and relate to the topics of this movie on a deeply personal level, they're really going to want to talk to you,' Jake said.

'This movie is going to affect peopleand they're going to want to tell youabout their life.

'So if someone understands the themes of this movie and comes across you in public and they want to really talk to you, what'sthe best way for them to be able to talkto you about this? How would yourecommend they go about it?'

But Blake seemed unamused by the idea of people approaching her and wanting to discuss the harrowing themes that play out in the film.

She sarcastically replied,'Ask for my address or my phone number.'

'Or I could just share my location with you and then we could...,' she trailed off before laughing.

The star said that everyone knew 'at least' one person, usually 'more than one,' who had 'experienced' a toxic relationship.

She added what she found most 'beautiful' about making the movie, however, was that even people who 'haven't experienced it fell in love with [the film].'

'The story is told with such empathy that I feel like this movie can be healing,' she continued.

'It can be a cautionary tale and it can be inspiring. The movie itself and Colleen's work itself does that work.

'If anyone ever comes up to you and says that your work meant something to them outside of just having that collective experience in a theater where you laugh and cry and feel together, what a blessing.

'The fact that we get to do this and it gets to mean something is significant.'

Someone named Sally shared a clip of the interview to X, formerly Twitter, recently, writing, 'A major ick. Finally seeing who Blake Lively is [as] an individual and it's ugly.

'She might as well have said not to go up to her or talk to her. Brandon looks so uncomfortable.'

Her post quickly went viral, sparking intense criticism for the actress.

'Appalled at how she turned a deep, personal, serious question into a joke,' one person scathed.

'The question was kind of serious, and she decided to make it about herself,' someone else added.

'She shouldn't have signed up for this movie. She holds no compassion for victims/survivors,' another user raged.

'If she is uncomfortable with strangers going up to her telling their trauma that's OK but it comes with the territory.

'Could've at least been serious and explained why she isn't comfortable.'

'Holy s**t. This answer was so bad. Like I've met teenagers who could have answered better,' a fourth tweet read.

A fifth said, 'I understand that you don't have to tell your stuff to a celebrity or anyone who hasn't asked for it.

'But maybe Blake's response should have been, "Look, I'm not a professional in this, I'm so sorry. Maybe you should talk to a professional." Not the awful answer she gave.'

'An appropriate response would be to promote different resources available for DV situations,' a different user agreed.

'Unfortunately she is promoting this movie terribly and missed her chance. The interviewer was clunky but he was giving her a chance to do that.'

'Oh no. Just no. Awful,' another person wrote. 'The least she could [was] shout out a DV charity or resource, or respond with something meaningful and/or helpful.'

Others described her as 'tone deaf' and 'pretentious.'

But some social media users were on her side, and blamed the awkward moment on the interviewer.

'In fairness, how do you expect her to answer a heavy question like that?' one person asked.

'It's a five minute press junket. She's not a therapist or any kind of expert on DV - what could she possibly offer someone who's been traumatized by DV? Maybe the magnitude of the question caught her off guard?'

'OK, but it's wildly inappropriate to have any rando approach her and talk to her about their personal traumas. Talk to a dang therapist, not an actress,' someone else agreed.

Another user said,'In my opinion his question was really inappropriate, and people should not believe they can walk up to anyone demanding their time and trauma dumping on them.'

'Looks to me like she's setting pretty clear boundaries,' a different comment read. 'She's a working mother of multiple children and ambassador to end sex trafficking of children.

'Her job isn't to be inundated with traumatic stories from strangers. I'm siding with her here.'

Blake was previously blasted online after she hosted an interview with her It Ends With Us costars Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer, as well as author Colleen, and failed to discuss the serious message behind the movie.

The four women giggled together as they discussed everything from their dream jobs to their zodiac signs, but there was no mention of domestic violenceduring their chat.

Social media users were quick to slam them - particularly Blake, who hosted the interview - for partaking in the lighthearted questionnaire given the serious nature of the film, and for failing to speak about the topic.

'I'm very confused. You missed the entire purpose of the movie. I'm sad and disappointed,' one person wrote.

'This is a movie about abuse, can you promote please appropriately?' another asked.

Someone else added,'Blake is only here for the fashion and that's all. She ain't interested in the message this movie brings. Shallow.'

'As someone who has read the book, as someone who liked Blake, and as a DV survivor... to say that this is so disappointing would be an understatement,' a fourth comment read.

A fifth said,'This is the most tone deaf thing I've ever seen. This movie is about domestic violence, why are you promoting it like it's a Barbie movie?'

'When are you gonna talk about domestic violence? Trying to play this movie off as a fun romcom is wrong and disgusting,' a different user scathed.

'We don't wanna hear about shows and your new hair care routine we wanna hear about the victims and how prevalent domestic violence remains in society. You have been given a platform, use it.'

Several hours later, Blake took to Instagram to share information about domestic violence, as well as some resources for her followers.

She shared a series of links, which included a phone hotline for victims of domestic violence, as well as statistics and other information.

'Everyone deserves relationships free of domestic violence,' she wrote.

In addition, Blake faced more fury online after an interviewer shared an old clip of her chatting with the actress and branded itas the 'most uncomfortable situation she had ever experienced.'

Award-winning journalist Kjersti Flaa talked to Blake and fellow actressParker Poseyin 2016 about their then-new film Cafe Society when things went awry - and she confessed that the awkward interview left her wanting to 'quit her job.'

It turned tense after Kjersti congratulated the Gossip Girl star, who was expecting her second child with husband Ryan Reynoldsat the time, on her pregnancy.

'First of all, congrats on your little bump,' Kjersti, who is the founder of Content Now TV, gushed.

'Congrats on your little bump,' Blake fired back, as the interviewer giggled nervously.

'What about my bump?'Parker joined in, standing up to show her butt to the camera.

Kjersti, who appeared thrown off by Blake's response, then sat their awkwardly as the two ladies joked about their various 'bumps' together.

And things only got worse whenKjersti asked the women her first question.

Since the movie took place in the 1930s, Kjersti wondered if they enjoyed wearing old-school clothes in the movie.

But Blake didn't like the query, and as Parker started to answer, she interjected,'Everyone wants to talk about the clothes but I wonder if they would ask the men about the clothes.'

'I would,'Kjersti promised.

Again, the ladies started talking to one another rather than toKjersti, as they discussed some of their favorite outfits worn by men in the movie.

The uncomfortable interview went on for another few minutes, before a defeated Kjersti wrapped it up.

In addition, Blake has continuously dominated headlines amid ongoing rumors that she's feuding with her costar Justin, 40 - who on top of starring in the film also directed it and served as one of the producers.

The speculation first arose after fans noticed the two failed to do any press together leading up to the film's release.

In addition, the on-screen love interests were not pictured together at the US premiere last week.

Eagle-eyed social media users also noticed that both Blake and author Colleen unfollowed Justin on Instagram recently.

A source told DailyMail.comthatBlake and Justin clashed over his 'dismissive' attitude to her 'input' while they were filming scenes that involved abuse.

The insider claimed that Justin only focused on 'what he believed was the abusive male viewpoint' and had a very 'chauvinistic' approach to the topic.

'During scenes depicting abuse, Justin failed to consider Blake's character's perspective, instead focusing solely on what he believed was the abusive male viewpoint,' they said.

'His approach was very chauvinistic, creating a tense atmosphere on set.'

The source claimed Justin was 'borderline abusive' on set, and said he 'almost became the character.'

'Justin almost became the character in the sense that some women on set felt he was borderline abusive to them and that he was unprofessional and unapologetic,' they said.

'Directing a film so serious and so important about domestic abuse without allowing the women to be included in this process is disturbing.'

TMZ reported that Blake felt 'fat-shamed' by Justin on set while they were preparing for a scene that saw him lift her off the ground.

Insiders told the website that Justin suffers from back problems and sought assistance from a trainer prior to the lifting scene.

Heallegedly asked the trainer how much Blake weighed and asked for help preparing his back to avoid incurring an injury.

When Blake learned about his comments, she allegedly felt fat-shamed by him.