Kjersti Flaa, the journalist who previously mentioned that an interview with Blake Lively made her consider quitting her job, has refuted any involvement in an alleged smear campaign against the actress.
In an Instagram post on Saturday, December 21, Flaa addressed the situation, stating, “I need to clarify things because I see a situation developing where people are beginning to believe that I played a role in the smear campaign against Blake Lively, supposedly orchestrated by Justin Baldoni and his team.” Flaa emphasized that she had reviewed the legal case and the purported underhanded activities taking place off-camera. “I want to make it clear that I had no part in it,” she affirmed.
Expressing her dismay, Flaa revealed she was “shocked” and “disgusted” by the content of the text messages exchanged among Baldoni’s PR team that were referenced in the lawsuit submitted by Lively, 37, on Friday, December 20.
“I would never take part in anything like that,” she said. “That’s such an insult to me.”
Flaa said she doesn’t want “to be a part of this,” noting that she shared a video from a previous interview with Lively and “that’s it.”
“Just wanted to put it out there,” Flaa captioned her Instagram post. “I have nothing to do with Justin Baldoni and his smear campaign against Blake Lively that was reported on by The New York Times today. There are conspiracy theories out there accusing me of being paid by his PR team to help with their smear campaign. None of this is true.”
News broke on Saturday that Lively sued It Ends With Us costar and director Baldoni, 40, for sexual harassment. In the lawsuit, which was obtained by Us Weekly after it was reported by TMZ and The New York Times, Lively accused Baldoni of launching a “social manipulation” campaign against her to “destroy” her reputation.
Flaa released a lengthier statement via YouTube on Saturday, explaining that she “would never accept money to jeopardize my integrity as a journalist.”
“I see how people are trying to make a connection here that I have been working with Justin Baldoni’s PR company because it’s just too much of a coincidence that my video was posted at that time,” she said, explaining that she “had a bad experience with Blake Lively” and decided to post the video after watching It Ends With Us.
In August, Flaa released a clip of Lively and Parker Posey from the 2016 Café Society press tour titled: “The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job.” In the clip, tensions grew between Flaa and Lively after the journalist congratulated the actress on her “little bump” and inquired about period costumes in the film.
“When my video came out, it added fuel to the fire against Blake Lively,” Flaa said, claiming that she had “no idea what was going on” on the set of It Ends With Us.
Flaa noted that she “never defended” Baldoni. “I don’t know him,” she said. “I never met him. Actually, I didn’t know he existed until It Ends With Us. So I have no sympathy towards any of these people that are involved.”
While pointing out specific text messages between Baldoni’s PR team in Lively’s lawsuit, Flaa calls the exchange “kind of disgusting.”
“The thing is, I don’t want anything to do with it,” she said. “I know nothing about Justin Baldoni. I know nothing about his PR team. And I definitely would never work with a PR team under any circumstances to put hate out there on the internet against someone, or to smear someone. I would never ever do that.”
