One of the main events in the Blake Lively slander was an interview that left a sour taste. In the whirlwind of celebrity interactions and public scrutiny, artists are expected to balance between compliments and potential missteps that can become a minefield.
Two contrasting incidents involving high-profile celebrities, i.e. Blake Lively and Lady Gaga, portray how people can interpret well-intentioned comments. While the spotlight has been on Lively for her controversial remarks, Gaga avoided a potential controversy by demonstrating a more gracious approach to Joaquin Phoenix’s comment.
Blake Lively’s Unfortunate Misstep
A 2016 interview, that blew up during her promotions for It Ends With Us became a center of controversy, and it involved a seemingly benign comment from journalist Kjersti Flaa about Lively’s pregnancy. The Norwegian journalist simply congratulated Blake Lively over her “little bump” as she gestured at the actress’ visible bump from a pregnancy that had already been announced.
A cheerful comment from the interviewer was completely taken in the wrong context by Lively, and she decided to respond with sarcasm, saying “Congratulations on your little bump.” In the footage uploaded on Flaa’s channel, you can see the interviewer being completely upset over the remark.
Moreover, Lively ignored Flaa’s presence and kept interacting with her co-star. This passive-aggressiveness wasn’t well-received by the viewers. The latter opened up about her experience and described how she felt in an interview with Daily Mail.
It was such a traumatizing experience for me. I was there to do a job and they made sure to make it as difficult as possible for me to do that, I was there so they could promote a movie.
I was invited to meet them. It certainly did not feel like that. I felt belittled and ignored and it made me question if I ever wanted to do these types of interviews again. It took me a while to get over it and build up my confidence again.
Flaa was undoubtedly affected by the incident, simply because Lively misread the situation. Although some interviews are callous and sexist towards actresses, this was surely not one of those instances.
Lady Gaga’s Graceful Handling of Joaquin Phoenix’s Compliment
During an event for Joker: Folie à Deux, Joaquin Phoenix complimented Lady Gaga on her weight loss. His comment was completely respectful, and professional, and even had a hint of admiration as seen in the video from Page Six.
And Stefani [Lady Gaga] also lost a lot of weight, I remember I met you and you went away for like a month and then you came back and you lost a lot of weight. It was really impressive and seemed really difficult.
Gaga simply thanked Phoenix and they moved on from the topic, but this interaction could’ve gone way worse if she had mistaken it for a mean comment or an opportunity to clap back at her co-star. However, Lady Gaga did none of that, and took the compliment gracefully.
After at least some media training, celebrities should be able to understand the difference between a compliment and an offensive comment. The incident with Blake Lively only shows that reading the room, no matter who you are, is extremely important. If it weren’t for the awkward interview circulating online, Lively’s PR team might have had a breather.
