Yahoo Lifestyle Anne Hathaway Apologizes To Journalist After ‘Cringe’ Interview From 2012 Goes Viral
After getting slammed on the internet due to a resurfaced clip of an uncomfortable 2012 interview with journalist Kjersti Flaa, Anne Hathaway has apologized.
“Yesterday, I did receive an email. It was from Anne Hathaway’s publicist, and he forwarded a message to me from Anne Hathaway,” Flaa said in a YouTube video uploaded Tuesday. “I would have to say, I was pretty shocked. I had not expected her to reach out to me at all. I thought she was never gonna even see that video. But she did. And she did something pretty amazing.”
In the video, Flaa, a Norwegian entertainment journalist, said the “Devil Wears Prada” star sent her a “long email” to explain “what she was going through” at the time, and apologized for giving Flaa ― in Flaa’s words ― “an awful interview, basically.”
Flaa made headlines this summer when she said she’d nearly quit her job after a “nightmare” 2016 interview with Blake Lively. Last week, she published a throwback clip from a 2012 interview she did with Hathaway during a press tour for “Les Misérables,” the movie for which Hathaway would eventually win an Oscar for best supporting actress.
As seen in the original footage from their interview, Flaa kicked off their conversation the same way she was opening all of her interviews with the stars of the musical ― by lightheartedly asking Hathaway if she’d answer her first question in the form of a song.
“Can I sing [the question] to you, and you can sing back the answer?” Flaa said with a laugh.
Hathaway declined. “Well, I won’t be doing that,” she said, “but you’re more than welcome to sing.”
As the interview continued, Flaa asked Hathaway questions such as “Do you remember your first crush?” and whether she believed “love was more passionate” during the era that “Les Misérables” takes place.
Hathaway didn’t offer much, responding to Flaa’s questions with a simple “No” or “No, no.”
Last week, reminiscing about the interview, Flaa described it as “top-notch cringe” and her “worst interview idea ever,” adding that she felt like Hathaway “really hated” her and was “annoyed” with her the whole time.
However, the journalist said she did cross paths with the “Princess Diaries” alum again, and things were a little more amicable.
“I have met Anne Hathaway after this, actually,” Flaa said, “and she has been very sweet ... I’m very happy that I got better experiences with her after this.”
Three days later, Flaa posted anupdate on YouTube, announcing that Hathaway had reached out to her with an apology she called “so touching.”
“Just talking about it makes me almost teary-eyed, because I was just so grateful that she did that,” she said.
Flaa told viewers she wasn’t going to disclose the exact contents of Hathaway’s note, since it was “very personal.”
“I just wanted to share with you guys what she did, because I thought that was just so amazing,” she said.
Flaa said she wrote back to Hathaway and thanked her for the mea culpa.
“I said, ‘If you ever want to sit down and talk about it, I’m here,’ and then she invited me to interview her for her next movie that’s coming out in May,” Flaa said. “It’s a long time ago now, I have no hard feelings about it.”
She also acknowledged a point that some YouTube commenters made in Hathaway’s defense, that press tours tend to be monotonous and exhausting for actors ― though Flaa pointed out that they can be draining for journalists too.
Watch Flaa’s video below.
