Blake Lively under fire for ‘garbage answer’ to serious question during It Ends With Us interview

Blake Lively is under fire once again when she responded to a serious question with a joke while promoting her new movie.

Blake Lively is under fire once again.

During a recent interview about her new movie, It Ends With Us — which centres on the topic of domestic violence — the actress responded to a serious question with a joke.

“For people who see this movie, who relate to the topics of this movie on a deeply personal level, they’re really gonna want to talk to you,” reporter Jake Hamilton said to Lively and her co-star Brandon Sklenar during a virtual press junket last week.

“This movie is gonna affect people, and they’re gonna want to tell you about their lives,” Hamilton went on.

Blake Lively is under fire for a “garbage” answer she gave to a serious question by journalist Jake Hamilton.

“So if someone understands the themes of this movie and comes across you in public and they want to really talk to you, what’s the best way for them to be able to talk to you about this? How would you recommend they go about it?”

Sprawled on a couch with her head leaning on her bent arm, Lively replied sarcastically, “Maybe asking for, like, my address, or my phone number. Or, like, location share?! I could just location-share you and then we could…”

Laughing, she trailed off, as Sklenar sat silently.

Lively responded to a serious question with a joke while co-star Brandon Sklenar sat beside her.

People online were “appalled” by Lively’s lighthearted response.

“What a garbage answer where is her media training?!?” one TikTok user exclaimed, with another echoing, “That response was totally uncalled for and cruel!”

“That was a genuine question, why did she do that???” someone else asked, as another critic remarked, “Why is she laughing this is so embarrassing for her.”

“She really said I don’t GAF about your problems, just your money,” another dissenter commented.

Others took issue with the way Lively was sitting for the conversation. “Why is she on the couch like that,” one of them wondered, while another argued, “The way she is sitting immediately indicates how much she respects this particular interview.”

Critics also called her out for the way she was sitting in the interview.

A few, however, defended the Gossip Girl star against the “dumb question,” with one person pointing out, “What does Blake Lively know about DV? Does acting in a movie make you a therapist? What actor has the time to arrange a chit chat with someone who resonated w movie?”

Someone else added, “I have to agree. Her answer was awful but the question is kind of strange too, people should not approach her for advice or therapy… and her co-star is equally uninterested.”

In the movie, Lively stars as florist Lily Bloom who is in a DV relationship.

However, the majority of netizens felt Lively could have at least “promote[d] different resources available for DV situations” or even “explained why she isn’t comfortable” with strangers approaching her.

Earlier this week, amid claims she has not spent any of the It Ends With Us press tour addressing the film’s serious theme, Lively reshared a clip on her Instagram Story from a recent interview she did with BBC News.

“She is not just a survivor, and she’s not just a victim, and while those are huge things to be, they are not her identity,” she said of her character, Lily Bloom, during the chat.

Lively noted that Lily “is not defined by something someone else did to her or an event that happened to her, even if it’s multiple events. She defines herself, and I think that’s deeply empowering. No one else can define you. No experience can define you. You define you.”

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants star wrote a lengthy message atop the footage, beginning by thanking “everyone who came out to show that people WANT to see films about women and the multitudes we hold.”

Lively has also been criticised for focusing on her red carpet appearances and promoting her new haircare line. Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

At the New York premiere of the film, she appeared to talk more about her dress previously worn by Britney Spears than about the importance of the movie. Picture: Gotham/WireImage

She continued, “It Ends With Us is the story of the female experience. All the highest highs and the lowest lows. And we are so proud of it.”

“We have been in celebration of this film and of getting a message so important out there to the masses,” Lively concluded. “Thank you all for embracing @itendswithusmovie with the same pain, love and joy we had sharing it with you all.”

In the subsequent slide, the mother of four posted stats on intimate partner violence as well as a link for the hotline and access to “immediate help.”

Prior to the upload, Lively had been called out by social media users for focusing on floral fashion, her new Blake Brown haircare line and her husband Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool & Wolverine movie — all while promoting It Ends With Us.

On the contrary, many have praised the film’s director — and Lively’s co-star — Justin Baldoni for discussing the movie’s message in numerous interviews.

This article originally appeared in Page Six and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Blake Lively under fire for ‘garbage answer’ to serious question during It Ends With Us interview