Blake Lively’s career has been in a bit of a freefall lately, following the controversy surrounding her movie “It Ends With Us” and Lively’s subsequent fallout with former BFF Taylor Swift. Now, the “Gossip Girl” star is seemingly working overtime to try and salvage her reputation by making some major changes to her team. Page Six revealed the actor has parted ways with her longtime publicist Leslie Sloane, who has represented Lively since she rose to fame on “Gossip Girl.” The reason why is unclear at the time of writing, though the move has raised eyebrows, giving her haters even more ammunition.
X users slammed Lively for severing ties with Sloane, with one stressing how callous it was. Another claimed, “I suspect this is because she thinks a publicist should have been able to save her from the disastrous consequences to her actions. You can’t fix messy. Good luck to whoever she hires next.” Someone else pointed out the shady side of Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, by quipping, “I hope Leslie uses some of those dirty tactics she used against others on their behalf and at their request on them now!” Sloane is a top Hollywood executive whose roster of clients includes major celebrities such as Lively and Reynolds, Lindsay Lohan, and Megan Fox.
She was initially hired in the early aughts and continued representing “The Town” star when Sloane founded her own firm in 2014. Notably, she was also involved in the legal drama between Lively and her “It Ends With Us” co-star and director Justin Baldoni, who accused the publicist of launching a smear campaign against him on behalf of her client. The warring duo eventually settled out of court in May 2026, after a prolonged legal battle that hurt both of their careers.
Blake Lively’s PR team faced backlash for mishandling her crises
With Blake Lively letting go of her publicist, it remains to be seen whether this will help her public standing or blow up in Lively’s face. In recent years, the “Shallows” star has faced tons of scrutiny for the way she has handled her many controversies (and not just the drama surrounding “It Ends With Us,” but other scandals Lively probably wishes we’d forget too). In a March 2026 Reddit thread, a user accused the actor’s PR team of either failing to do a good job or secretly trying to sabotage her image. Others pointed the finger at Leslie Sloane personally, with her PR strategies decried as wholly ineffective.
As one user snarked, “Is it just me or does BL’s whole PR approach via Leslie Sloane feel very outdated? Like it belongs in 2005?” Still, most commenters reckon the “Age of Adaline” star has nobody to blame for her downfall but herself (and perhaps, her similarly divisive husband Ryan Reynolds). Even with a publicist like Sloane in her corner, Lively shouldn’t expect for things to improve if she refuses to take her team’s advice. As one Redditor stressed, “There are multiple pieces of evidence from different people who explicitly say that Blake cannot be controlled by anyone and will not listen to anyone.”
Another noted that her PR team has actually done a great job of protecting her from her past controversies. “She’s always been problematic,” they added. “It didn’t save her this time because instead of simply apologizing she kept doubling down.” But then again, it’s also possible that Sloane was the one who severed ties with the “Gossip Girl” star and not the other way around.
