Blake Lively is being accused by former employees of her lifestyle company, Preserve, of creating a “toxic” and “draining” work environment.
These allegations against the actress surfaced while she is also dealing with several lawsuits involving her former co-star, Justin Baldoni.
Blake Lively’s Preserve Reportedly Had the Most “Insane” and “Toxic” Work Environment
Blake Lively’s former staffers have shared their experiences working at her now-discontinued company, Preserve, and it’s not something that paints her as a great boss.
“The entire company was an absolute disaster,” one of her former employees revealed.
“The impression [Lively] left on me after I worked at Preserve is that she doesn’t care. It was a really toxic work environment,” stated another.
According to another ex-staffer, Preserve was one of the most “insane, emotionally draining, and disorganized environments you could imagine.”
They also pointed out that these revelations made her claims against Justin Baldoni, about feeling uncomfortable and harassed on the set of It Ends with Us, seem ironic.
Adding to the accusations about the company being disorganized, when Lively was hosting a photo shoot at her mansion in New York, staffers and models reportedly saw her come out of the house “looking like an absolute mess.”
Lively’s brother, Eric Lively, who was said to have been hired as the creative director of the startup, was not exempt from criticism either.
Former employees said he was “unqualified to run a company” and “unprofessional.” The actor had reportedly slept too much on the job.
Furthermore, they said it took a while before they even had furniture in their office.
“The irony of it being a lifestyle site that was selling these really expensive wares was not lost on anyone,” they stated, revealing that they had no desks for months after the brand launched.
Following their legal complaints, the former staffers were allegedly given $300,000 for being mistreated at work. All of this has only come to light now, as Lively’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, has reportedly kept everything about the company under wraps.
Blake Lively on Her Online Lifestyle Business, Preserve
Lively admitted to Vogue in 2015 that launching Preserve six months earlier than planned was not her best decision.
“We have an incredible team of people who do beautiful work, but we launched the site before it was ready, and it never caught up to its original mission. It’s not making a difference in people’s lives, whether superficially or in a meaningful way,” The Age of Adaline star stated.
She also revealed to Entrepreneur in 2023 that there were some “behind-the-scenes stuff that [she] couldn’t figure out,” which caused the company to shut down. Though she refused to say anything more about it.
Some users on Reddit have shared their thoughts on the issue. They mentioned that Preserve mostly sold artisanal home goods but believe its main issue was that it was pitched for the elite and not designed for the general public.
Lively, Eric, and Leslie have not yet responded to these allegations. However, the topic might come up again in the ongoing legal battle they’re facing with Justin Baldoni, whom the actress filed complaints against in 2024 for sexual harassment and allegedly launching a PR smear campaign against her.
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