Days after Anne Hathaway was branded ‘mean’ for her attitude in a resurfaced interview, the actress has reportedly apologised to the reporter.
Journalist Kjersti Flaa, who went viral earlier this year after posting a clip of her ‘nightmare’ interview with Blake Lively, took to TikTok earlier this week to share a snippet from her ‘cringe’ interview with Anne, 41.
The interview took place in 2012 when the actress was promoting Lès Miserables and saw Anne give short and, at times, sharp answers to the reporter’s questions.
One particularly awkward moment came after Kjersti told the actress she wanted to sing a question to her and asked Anne to sing back the answer.
‘Well, I won’t be doing that, but you’re more than welcome to sing,’ Anne hastily responded.
Another moment was when the reporter asked the actress if she remembered her first crush and whether she thought ‘love was more passionate’ during the Lès Miserables time period.
Anne appeared unamused by the questions and replied with a simple ‘no’.
Now Kjersti has revealed on Instagram that she has received a lengthy email from Anne and her team apologising for the interview.
‘I have to say, I was pretty shocked,’ she said in her latest video, admitting she ‘had not expected’ the actress to reach out to her or even see the video, which has amassed over nine million views.
Explaining to her followers that the women had agreed not to share the contents of their emails, Kjersti was clearly touched by their exchange and said: ‘I was just so grateful that she did that.’
She continued to say: ‘It was a very personal note and we decided that I wouldn’t share exactly what was in the email, but I just wanted to share with you guys what she did because I thought that was just so amazing.’
The journalist, who has worked for Norwegian and US news outlets, then said she accepted Anne’s apology and asked whether she would be interested in sitting down with her for another interview.
Anne reportedly replied by inviting Kjersti to interview her during her press tour for Flowervale Street, her mystery/thriller film coming out in May next year.
‘I have so much respect for people who own up to their mistakes and say they’re sorry. Sorry is such a powerful word,’ Kjersti said.
Anne’s apology came after Kjersti reposted their past interaction on both her TikTok and YouTube pages this week, admitting it ‘didn’t go as planned’ and might have been her ‘worst interview idea ever’.
It quickly resulted in fans slamming the actress for her ‘mean’ behaviour, with one person, emi.los writing on TikTok: ‘It’s so strange, usually Anne Hathaway is so sweet, why was she so angry?’
Mamaandhersunflowers added: ‘What was her problem? Seriously, this journalist seems so sweet and caring.’
Jac.nhff commented: ‘Why is everyone mean to this woman lmao’, referencing Kjersti.
Other fans argued that Anne wasn’t being ‘mean’ but rather that she was ‘being direct with her boundaries’.
Elsewhere, some were skeptical of Kjersti’s interviewing methods.
Slade claimed: ‘I know for a fact the interviewer said something to upset Anne. Anne Hathaway never acts like this’.
Meatballcat added: ‘Yes, Anne seemed annoyed. But these were poorly worded questions – if she wanted more than a yes or no, then she shouldn’t have asked yes or no questions.’
‘She’s probably annoyed that none of these questions are about the movie. I’d be too. Ask me about my work not my first crush’, Tuyen commented.
Kjersti went viral earlier this year after she shared an old interview with Blake, 37, claiming it was so ‘uncomfortable’ that it made her want to ‘quit’ her job.