Anne Hathaway apologizes to journalist after their ‘cringe’ 2012 interview goes viral
Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa is applauding Anne Hathaway for her response to an awkward 12-year-old interview.
Last week, Flaa posted a video of an interview with Hathaway, which took place while the actor was promoting her role in the 2012 film “Les Miserables.”
The YouTube video, which has the title “This might be my worst interview idea ever,” racked up over 250,000 views, but Flaa’s clip on TikTok received over 10 million. Commenters debated whether Hathaway was “rude,” or if her terse answers were justified.
The renewed attention on the video prompted Hathaway to do something “pretty amazing,” Flaa shared in an update: Apologize directly in a “very personal note.”
TODAY.com has reached out to Hathaway for comment and has not heard back at the time of publication.
Here’s what to know.
Who is Kjersti Flaa?
Kjersti Flaa is an entertainment journalist who recently made headlines for another viral interaction with a celebrity.
Over the summer, amid Blake Lively’s controversial “It Ends With Us” press tour, Flaa resurfaced a 2016 interview she did with Lively for the movie “Cafe Society.”
The journalist titled the video, “The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job.”
The clip begins with the journalist telling Lively, who was then pregnant, “Congrats on your little bump.” Lively then replies back with the same, saying, “Congrats on your little bump.” More seemingly awkward moments ensued.
Since then, Flaa has posted a series of her older content to give people behind-the-scenes looks at celebrity interviews.
What happened during Flaa’s interview with Hathaway?
Introducing the video, Flaa said the premise for her interview was “topnotch cringe.”
“This might be my worst interview idea ever,” Flaa said.
While at the “Les Mis” junket, Flaa decided to sing her first question and requested stars sing back their responses. Many actors, like Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne, played along.
Hathaway was less keen on the idea. In a clip of the interview, Flaa explained her idea to Hathaway who laughed then said, “Well, I won’t be doing that, but you’re more than welcome to sing.”
Flaa marched ahead with her approach and sang — and said the interview “went completely downhill after that.”
Not singing, Flaa asked Hathaway two additional questions: “Do you think love was more passionate back then?” and “Do you remember your first crush?” These elicited the same one-word response: “No.”
“She was just being so dismissive of me,” Flaa said.
At the end of the interview, Hathaway thanked the journalist and shook her hand.
Reflecting on the interview, Flaa said said her unusual approach may have made Hathaway uncomfortable.
“I have to admit, maybe it was too much to ask her to sing back. But she could’ve been nice for the rest of the interview,” she said.
The journalist noted that she has met the star since then and said she was “very sweet.”
How did Hathaway respond to Flaa’s video?
Three days after her initial video went up, Flaa posted a follow-up video on Oct. 9.
She said that Hathaway’s publicist forwarded her a heartfelt email from the star, who felt compelled to reach out after watching their interview.
“She did something pretty amazing. She sent me a long email explaining to me what she was going through right then, when she did this interview. She apologized for giving me an awful interview, basically,” she said.
During their correspondence, Flaa said she and the actor decided not to reveal exactly what was in the email, but Flaa still wanted to share the “amazing” gesture.
Flaa said she was “so grateful” to Hathaway.
“It was so touching to me, just talking about it makes me almost teary-eyed … it was a very personal note,” she said.
Hathaway also invited Flaa to interview her in the spring for her next movie, “Flowervale Street.”
Flaa said the exchange was emblematic of her broader intentions with the YouTube channel.
“This is the message I’ve been trying to put forward in these videos I’ve been making — that we have to be nice and polite to each other,” she said.
She said she tries to “own up” to her mistakes, including the ideas for interviews that “fall flat.”
“I have so much respect for people who own up to their mistakes and say sorry,” she said. “Thank you, really, from the bottom of my heart for saying you’re sorry.”
