Blake Lively accused of creating ‘insane, toxic' working environment forcing staff to work on floors with no furniture at now defunct lifestyle company

News.com.au

21-05-2025

Six former staffers at Blake Lively's defunct lifestyle company, Preserve, are breaking their silence on the alleged 'toxic, 'unprofessional' and 'chaotic' workplace they experienced.
'The entire company was an absolute disaster,' one staffer claimed to the Daily Mail in a bombshell exposé published Monday.
'The workplace allegations that Blake is making now [against Justin Baldoni] are deeply ironic, given that it was one of the most insane, toxic, emotionally draining and disorganised environments you could imagine.'
Lively, now 37, launched Preserve, an online shop that sold artisanal home goods, in 2014, but it shuttered within a year.
'The impression [Lively] left on me after I worked at Preserve is that she doesn't care,' a second ex-employee shared. 'It was a really toxic work environment.'
One staffer recalled a time when the It Ends With Us actress was set to host a photo shoot for the brand at her Westchester County, NY, mansion, but when Preserve staffers and a model arrived, she allegedly came out of her house 'looking like an absolute mess.'
Lively's brother Eric Lively, who was reportedly hired to be the creative director of the company, was allegedly also careless with his role and often 'overslept,' leaving many staffers to wait outside in the cold before they were let into the Manhattan studio apartment where the company was based.
Former staffers also claimed they had to sit on the floor of the studio for 'months' before furniture arrived.
'[Eric] was completely unqualified to run a company,' an ex-employee alleged to the Daily Mail. 'There were a lot of ways in which the employment was unprofessional.'
'For many weeks or months, there were no desks,' the source further claimed. 'The irony of it being a lifestyle site that was selling these really expensive wares was not lost on anyone.'
One former staffer described Eric as an 'actor' who was 'acting the part of creative director.'
The former employees further alleged that they would often have to work 'a crazy amount' of hours.
Two staff members claimed they were unable to afford subway fares when they were not paid on time.
According to the report, some staffers allegedly received settlements of up to $300,000 after threatening legal action over their mistreatment.
However, all of the company's inner turmoil stayed under wraps due to Blake's longtime publicist, Leslie Sloane, per the former staffers.
'Leslie Sloane shut it down,' one worker claimed. 'They buried every single thing from that company.'
In an interview with Entrepreneur in 2023, Blake owned up to mistakes she made with Preserve.
'I poured everything I had into that company,' she told the outlet, according to E! News, but noted 'behind-the-scenes stuff that we just couldn't figure out.'
The Gossip Girl alum did not go into great detail at the time about some of the issues her company faced.
Page Six has reached out to Blake's rep for comment on the former Preserve employees' allegations but did not immediately hear back. We also did not hear back from Eric.
The exposé comes as the Age of Adeline star is embroiled in a serious legal battle with Baldoni, 41, whom she has sued for sexual harassment, launching a smear campaign and several other claims.
The actor-director has denied wrongdoing and countersued Blake, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and Sloane, their publicist, for extortion, defamation and other claims. They are set to go to trial in March 2026.