Before being the face of a domestic violence drama, Blake Lively was praising an alleged abuser!
Alexa Nikolas, who called Blake out for including music by her “known abuser” in It Ends With Us, has put the actress on blast again!!! This time for controversial comments she made about Woody Allen.
If you don’t know, Blake starred in one of Woody’s films, Café Society, in 2016. It’s the movie she was doing press for when she rudely complimented a journalist on her “little bump” even though she clearly wasn’t pregnant. And at the time, while Woody hadn’t been fully blacklisted from the industry yet, he had been accused of child sexual abuse against his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow.
Related: It Ends With Us Sequel Seen As IMPOSSIBLE Because Of Blake & Justin’sFeud
The allegations first surfaced during his split from ex Mia Farrow in 1992, and then resurfaced again in 2014 when Dylan penned an open letter. That’s two years before Café Society came out, so the cast had plenty of time to consider the allegations before signing onto the project, FYI.
Naturally, it was a hot topic of discussion during the press tour, including at the Cannes Film Festival. There, master of ceremonies Laurent Lafitte leaned into the controversy, joking:
“It’s very nice that you’ve been shooting so many movies in Europe, even if you are not being convicted for rape in the U.S.”
At a luncheon the next day, the Gossip Girl alum slammed the host for the jab, telling Variety:
“I think any jokes about rape, homophobia or Hitler is not a joke. I think that was a hard thing [to] swallow in 30 seconds. Film festivals are such a beautiful, respectful festivals of film and artists and to have that, it felt like it wouldn’t have happened if it was in the 1940s. I can’t imagine Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby going out and doing that. It was more disappointing for the artists in the room that someone was going up there making jokes about something that wasn’t funny.”
She added:
“But it wasn’t just Woody. He made three homophobic comments in a row. A Hitler joke. And a rape joke. It was all within 30 seconds … What on Earth was happening? It was really confusing.”
The drama continued when Dylan’s brother Ronan Farrow published an article in the Hollywood Reporter titled, “My Father, Woody Allen, and the Danger of Unasked Questions,” in which he opened up about all the support his father had been getting and how much it hurt his sister to see so many stars continue to work with the director. When asked about it by Vulture, Blake dished:
“I came home and went to bed at whatever time we finished. I haven’t been in it, so I don’t want to speak on something I haven’t read. I think that’s dangerous. It’s definitely something that being at the festival, the media these days, you come to a film festival about film and people talk about all different types of things. You know? That can be definitely tricky to navigate, I’m sure. I don’t want to speak about something I haven’t read.”
But then she went and told the LA Times:
“It’s amazing what Woody has written for women.”
She added that his personal life and the icky allegations didn’t factor into her work, noting:
“It’s very dangerous to factor in things you don’t know anything about. I… know my experience. And my experience with Woody is he’s empowering to women.”
She did not say that. OMG. A month later, she doubled down in a chat with Hamptons magazine, once again calling the filmmaker “very empowering.” Whoa.
As mentioned, Blake’s already been called out by the former child star this week for some questionable decisions made in her new domestic violence film. Now, Alexa’s calling her out yet again! The Zoey 101 lead reposted Blake’s shocking comment to the LA Times on her Instagram Story on Thursday, reacting:
“
oh”
She also included the “
Blake was obviously in a tough spot promoting a movie with such a controversial director (though she didn’t have to work with him if she didn’t want to). But the fact that she so openly praised him despite the allegations is pretty shocking. Thanks to her It Ends With Us scandal, we now know that she’s a pro at ignoring people and topics when she wants. And yet she went this route! Jeez! This is SO not the best look for the face of a movie about abuse!
TBH, pretty much nothing she’s said has aged well. Just saying!! Reactions?? Sound OFF (below)!