Yikes! Blake Lively is getting called out for running a “toxic” workplace at her old lifestyle company!
Back in 2014, the actress started Preserve, which was meant to be a competitor to Gwyneth Paltrow‘s Goop. But this was no Meghan Markle success story — it was a huge failure and shut down the next year. Not before, however, several employees were put through the wringer! Speaking to DailyMail.com on Monday, SIX ex-staffers decided to speak out for the first time after they were outraged to see Blake accusing Justin Baldoni of inappropriate workplace behavior when they claim she put them through similar “unprofessional” situations!
Related: Taylor Swift ‘Done With’ Blake Lively & So Is Gigi Hadid
When the Gossip Girl star first launched her brand, it was headquartered in Los Angeles with the help of local marketing business guru, Krishnan Menon, who assisted the launch with staff from his company at Phenomenon Marketing in 2014. But things quickly changed that fall when the company’s offices moved to a studio apartment in lower Manhattan — owned and occupied by Blake’s brother Eric! The less successful actor took on a leadership role, and it was a complete disaster.
Contents [hide]
Employees claimed Eric lived in the apartment they worked out of, causing a lot of problems. He allegedly drank alcohol, smoked pot, and frequently left staff outside in the cold when he overslept. One former staff member said:
“The entire company was an absolute disaster. The workplace allegations that Blake is making now [against Baldoni] are deeply ironic, given that it was one of the most insane, toxic, emotionally draining and disorganized environments you could imagine.”
Another chimed in:
“The impression [Blake] left on me after I worked at Preserve is that she doesn’t care. It was a really toxic work environment.”
IYDK, Eric was an actor most famous for work on Disney Channel‘s So Weird, The L Word, Full House, and American Pie. But he was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2009 and his last acting gig, per IMDb, was in 2014. Just around the time he dove headfirst into this brand…
Embarking on the new career choice, Eric hired about eight 20-somethings with digital marketing and design knowledge — but they were all forced to deal with a ton of “chaos” for the next year. One insider dished:
“[Eric] was completely unqualified to run a company. There were a lot of ways in which the employment was unprofessional. For many weeks or months, there were no desks. We had to sit on the floor. The irony of it being a lifestyle site that was selling these really expensive wares was not lost on anyone.”
Oof. The only furniture that was in the room created an awkward and uncomfortable atmosphere for many, the source went on:
“It was a big studio. There wasn’t a delineation between living quarters and working quarters. The bed was part of the same room. There was a whiteboard. But it wasn’t really furnished. I felt like he was being an actor, acting the part of creative director of this company.”
A bed in an office? Yeah, that’s not great…
The 43-year-old also didn’t make things easy on his employees with last-minute requests and frequent disruptions:
“One day suddenly, out of nowhere, he said ‘You need to put together a strategy and present it tomorrow.’ You show up for work the next day and he’s still asleep.”
Jeez. Others doubled down on this, saying they were often left out in the cold on weekday mornings while they waited to be let inside. Another confidant recalled:
“People would be outside in the cold and he wouldn’t let them in because he was still lying in bed smoking a bowl. He was taking lots of prescription pills. He would openly smoke. He drank too.”
Another added:
“We’d get to the office and it would smell like weed. It was clear he partied the night before.”
While an additional staffer said Eric was “very charismatic and convincing. You want to be around him,” that had it’s downsides, they claimed:
“But at the same time you don’t know what you’re in for when you’re around him. We were subject to his moods and whims, and those were very dysregulated. There was anger. You had to walk on eggshells.”
Another former employee shared:
“There was no one with a sane mind watching over us. Eric would tell us to do random things. We’d have random meetings that went nowhere.”
Sounds awful! One employee also noted they would often work late into the night, adding:
“Some people were working every single day, 20 hours a day. A crazy amount. Not because there was work to be done, but because it was so dysfunctional and Eric captured people into his sphere.”
One source recalled being filled in on a screwed up photoshoot in 2015. The employees and a fashion model were driven out to Blake’s mansion in Westchester County, north of New York, to plan for an upcoming shoot. Blake was supposed to be involved, but she didn’t show up until two hours after they’d all gotten there. The source detailed:
“[Staff] said [Blake] came out of her house hours late, looking like an absolute mess.”
Despite going there so she could help out, it was a big waste of time:
“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.”
Days later, Eric took charge of another photoshoot that was similarly such a mess, the source went on:
“Other employees also told me about a Preserve fashion shoot run by Eric in New York, days later. Blake had no part in it. He had somehow finagled students from a film school to assist with the shoot as free interns and it was a disaster. [Staff] said the environment was frantic, late at night in our fifth-floor walk-up. They were hiking gear up five flights of stairs in a panicked rush.”
Eric was also accused of having a sexual relationship with an employee, three ex-staff members dished. He’s been married since 2005 to Angelina Davydova, so the alleged affair really made people feel uncomfortable. Understandable!
FWIW, it does not seem like Eric and Angelina have gotten divorced, but he has not shared any public posts about her on social media in years. So, it’s hard to know what’s going on there.
Either way, the fact Blake was allegedly running a business in which her brother was having sexual relations with an employee while creating a “toxic” environment for everyone is really bad. Sure, it might not have been directly her doing, but she was the face of the brand and there’s likely a lot more she could’ve done to keep her employees safe and in a professional environment. And yet they claim she did nothing… and is now fighting back against similar actions done to her! It’s not a great look. And it doesn’t end there.
Preserve’s work wasn’t just problematic for the employees, but neighbors in the residential building were also super annoyed! Per the outlet, several neighbors filed complaints with the New York City Department of Buildings in January 2015, and inspectors even visited the place, but they were unable to gain entry to the apartment. The complaints accused the brand of “illegal commercial/manufacturing use in residential zone,” with one filer writing:
“I would like to report someone who is using their apartment as an online business and constantly have 10-20 [people] in the apartment at [a] time.”
Staff claimed one complaint came from downstairs neighbor, Sean Avery, a former NHL player, but when Daily Mail contacted him about the controversy, he was super chill about it, explaining:
“It was fine really, as far as New York neighbors go.”
He said he only met the A Simple Favor alum once and thought she was “very nice” and “beautiful.” Hmm. Maybe he’s just trying to stay out of all the drama these days??
By the way, all the employees spoke anonymously to the outlet as many were asked to sign NDAs about the company’s downfall.
As the business was crumbling in 2015, two staffers reportedly weren’t able to afford the subway after they weren’t paid on time. Done with the “chaotic” and “toxic” workplace, senior staff tried to bring up the issues with Blake during a meeting at a NYC hotel in the spring of 2015 — as she was in the area to promote The Age of Adaline after welcoming her first child in December 2014 — but it was useless. A source shared:
“[Blake] immediately shut it down and said she wouldn’t be entertaining anything about her brother. The entire meeting was about Eric, and Blake just didn’t want to hear anything about it, so it went nowhere.”
What???
They furthered:
“When they went to have the meeting, Blake didn’t care about any of it and didn’t want to hear about any of it. Which is why [some employees] ended up going through with legal action.”
JFC. That’s not the reaction of a good boss! And, yeah, about that legal action. Some threatened to sue, but it appears like Blake settled with them instead since there are no filings related to this, according to the outlet. It’s believed one staff member walked away with a settlement of up to $300,000 and moved out of state.
Sources close to the brand claimed several legal actions were launched after staff started being fired. The company shut down in 2015 and was widely mocked for its lack of a business plan, but in true Blake fashion, she told TIME in June 2015 that this was just the result of sexism. She complained:
“They pit women against each other. You don’t see male entrepreneurs pitted against each other, destroyed, picked apart, and every word they say served up to judge.”
She also insisted she rushed the launch of the company so it could be featured in an August edition of Vogue. But whose fault is that? She didn’t have to launch if she didn’t want to!
So, how did none of this get out until now? The sources said Blake has her publicist Leslie Sloane to thank for that. Leslie is also caught up in the It Ends With Us drama, and one worker accused her of burying this workplace scandal back in the day:
“Leslie Sloane shut it down. They buried every single thing from that company.”
As mentioned, the staff members chose to speak out now in light of Blake’s legal action against Justin Baldoni. One staffer explained:
“It’s so ironic that she filed a workplace lawsuit when her workplace had three legal claims. Three out of roughly eight employees made legal claims.”
A second insider blasted the mother of four for being self-centered:
“She didn’t care to understand how the mismanagement of her brother could be affecting us. She’s entitled and extremely out of touch, and really only cares about herself.”
A final ex-worker simply can’t fathom why Blake didn’t take more control when everything was going up in smoke, musing:
“She was always very nice to me. But you would think that for somebody so concerned with their image and the narrative, there would have been more care taken to make sure things were more professional.”
WOWZA.
This sounds like a s**tshow!! Makes you wonder what it’s like behind the scenes of her current companies…
Thoughts?? Sound OFF (below)!