Reporter who slammed ‘nightmare’ Blake Lively denies involvement in Justin Baldoni’s alleged smear campaign

4 hours ago 7

Journalist Kjersti Flaa denied being involved in Justin Baldoni’s alleged smear campaign against Blake Lively after her “nightmare” interview with the actress went viral.

“I have nothing to do it. I would never take part in anything like that. That is such an insult to me,” Flaa claimed in a video posted to Threads on Saturday.

“I don’t want a part of this. I posted a video [showing] how Blake Lively was behaving in my interview and that’s it,” she continued, referring to her resurfaced 2016 interview with the “Gossip Girl” alum.

Reporter Kjersti Flaa denied being involved in Justin Baldoni’s alleged smear campaign against Blake Lively. YouTube/Kjersti Flaa
The journalist took to Threads and YouTube on Saturday to refute claims about her involvement. YouTube/Kjersti Flaa

Flaa explained she was “shocked and appalled” when she read the bombshell complaint that Lively, 37, filed against Baldnoni, 40, alleging he sexually harassed her on the set of “It Ends With Us” and then coordinated a smear campaign to ruin her career.

The reporter also took to YouTube to further address claims she was involved in the “Jane the Virgin” alum’s alleged plans after she was referenced in the New York Times article about Lively’s complaint.

Flaa claimed it was a “coincidence” that she re-shared her “uncomfortable” interview with Lively around the same time the film was released in August.

“I posted the video after I had seen the movie. … I didn’t like it,” she said. “I had a bad experience with Blake Lively, and at that time I was like, ‘I’ve kind of had enough of Hollywood,’ so I wasn’t that afraid of being canceled anymore, so I decided to post the video.”

“I have nothing to do it. … I would never take part in anything like that. That is such an insult to me,” Flaa said in a video posted on Threads. GC Images
Flaa further shared that she was “shocked and appalled” when she read Lively’s complaint against Baldoni, in which the actress alleges he sexually harassed her on the “It Ends With Us” set and sought to ruin her career. GC Images

Flaa further doubled down that her 2016 interview with Lively and her “Café Society” co-star Parker Posey “wasn’t a great interview experience at all” after the “Age of Adaline” star commented on her “little bump” and appeared to ignore the reporter throughout the segment.

On Friday, Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni, alleging there was an “all-hands” meeting about the actor’s behavior on the set of the domestic violence drama adapted from Colleen Hoover’s best-selling book.

Per the complaint, Baldoni allegedly showed Lively nude pictures of women, talked about his history of “porn addiction” and discussed the cast and crew’s genitalia.

Flaa was referenced in a New York Times article about Lively’s complaint after the reporter’s resurfaced 2016 “nightmare” interview with the “Gossip Girl” alum went viral in August around the film’s release. Christopher Peterson / SplashNews.com
During the interview, the “Simple Favor” star appeared to ignore Flaa and made an unusual comment about their reporter’s “little bump.” Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP

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In the meeting, he was allegedly to no longer bring up those topics or discuss Lively’s “weight” and “dead father.”

Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, denied the allegations, telling Page Six, “It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations.

“These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”

On Friday, Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni, alleging sexual harassment. GC Images
The actor’s attorney denied the allegations. Variety via Getty Images

Freedman claimed Baldoni hired a PR crisis manager over the summer after the “Simple Favor” actress made “multiple demands and threats,” including “threatening to not showing up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met.”

Rumors of a feud between Lively and Baldoni began swirling in August when fans noticed they were not promoting “It Ends With Us” together.

At the time, multiple sources told Page Six that Baldoni — who was also the director — created an “extremely difficult” work environment on set.

Lively, however, came under fire while promoting the movie as fans called out her failure to speak about the domestic violence issues in the film while instead promoting her haircare line, Blake Brown, and alcohol brand, Betty Booze.

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