Blake Lively’s ‘pro-slavery’ company was a ‘toxic’ workplace: report

Six former employees of the troubled lifestyle brand that Blake Lively launched in have come forward to express outrage over her charges that she suffered inappropriate on-set behavior by director Justin Baldoni given what they say was the chaotic toxic and unprofessional situation they dealt with while working for her Related Articles George Wendt dies at actor played fan favorite Norm Peterson on Cheers King Charles rebuffs Prince Harry by bonding with David Beckham When s the last time Nicole Kidman didn t wear a wig in residents Dilbert creator Scott Adams I m dying from same cancer as Joe Biden Trump demands Bruce Springsteen be investigated in new late-night rant Lively s company Preserve was meant to be her answer to Gwyneth Paltrow s Goop or Martha Stewart s lifestyle empire selling high-priced clothing and home decor goods online according to a new description in the Daily Mail But Preserve crashed and burned within a year for reasons that were never fully explained though Lively communicated Time that she blamed the bullying media for subjecting female entrepreneurs like her to scrutiny that male business leaders don t face When it was launched Preserve initially faced criticism for selling goods that were explained to be inspired by the allure of the antebellum South as Vox disclosed At one point the site s newsletter published pro-slavery propaganda by praising pre-Civil War Southern ladies or the wives of slave owners as Jezebel disclosed for possessing inherent social distinction and setting standards for style and appearance Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds also had faced backlash for getting married in on a Southern plantation with a history of slavery In the new Daily Mail summary the six former Preserve employees reveal the shocking inside story of Lively s lifestyle brand the implosion of which was accompanied by messy legal insists and workers allegedly forced to sign non-disclosure agreements The entire company was an absolute calamity one employee recounted the Daily Mail The workplace statements that Blake is making now against Baldoni are deeply ironic given that Preserve was one of the majority of insane toxic emotionally draining and disorganized environments you could imagine NEW YORK NY APRIL L-R Elaine Lively Blake Lively and Eric Lively attend The Age of Adaline premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square theater on April in New York City Photo by Jamie McCarthy Getty Images Preserve certainly was run by Lively s brother Eric Lively a handsome but not-so-successful former TV actor who had declared bankruptcy in according to the Daily Mail And his idea of an office was his Manhattan studio apartment where the employees mentioned they had to work long hours and sit on the floor for months before he eventually bought furniture Eric Lively also allegedly drank alcohol and smoked pot possibly during work hours though he sometimes overslept and left employees outside the Daily Mail also informed Eric Lively moreover had an affair with one of the employees three former employees reported As for the Gossip Girl star she generally seemed disengaged from the day-to-day operations of Preserve and the really toxic work milieu that her brother ran in her name employees communicated the Daily Mail Then again Lively claimed to Time magazine in that she was heavily involved in guiding the launch of her start-up meeting chefs meeting artisans designers craftsmen and getting advice from friends who are profitable entrepreneurs We have a band of amazing people coming to work and bleeding sweating and crying every day and loving it Lively informed Time To the former employees who spoke to the Daily Mail Lively needed to be seen as being involved especially when it came to photo shoots that would be used to promote her products Employees recall being driven to Lively s mansion in Westchester County north of New York City to do a photo shoot But the actor and self-styled Met Gala fashion icon didn t emerge from her home until two hours after the group arrived and she looked like an absolute mess an insider described the Daily Mail The whole idea was to show that she was styling the shoots All she was doing was adding accessories like bracelets for the pictures That was her only input The company s downfall came after senior Preserve staff arranged a meeting with Lively in to air their concerns according to the Daily Mail Blake at once shut it down and announced she wouldn t be entertaining anything about her brother one employee stated The entire meeting was about Eric and Blake just didn t want to hear anything about it so it went nowhere Because Lively allegedly refused to hear employees complaints selected ended up threatening to file lawsuits the Daily Mail broadcasted One employee reportedly received a settlement of up to to stay quiet A decade later Lively is mired in another legal fight after going to the New York Times in late then filing a bombshell lawsuit alleging that Baldoni subjected her to sexually inappropriate behavior while he directed her and co-starred with her in the film It Ends With Us Lively s lawsuit also alleges that Baldoni along with his colleagues at his Wayfarer Studios production company and his publicists launched a media campaign to smear her reputation during the release of It Ends With Us Baldoni has hit back with a counter-suit denying the sexual misconduct assertions He also alleged that Lively and Reynolds tried to seize creative control of It Ends With Us from him and targeted him for a media campaign that sought to destroy his reputation and career in Hollywood