Blake Lively’s Latest PR Stunt Involves a Donut Shop and the Health Department

Blake Lively is famous for many reasons. She’s iconic for her role as Serena van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl, she’s well-known as Taylor Swift’s BFF, and as Ryan Reynolds wife. Lately, however, Lively’s been making headlines for a different reason—her legal drama with It Ends with Us director and co-star, Justin Baldoni. 

The feud between the two has been escalating, with Lively filing a lawsuit against Baldoni, accusing him of launching a smear campaign against her. She alleges that he sexually harassed her, created a toxic working environment, and even fat-shamed her. In response, Baldoni filed a counter-lawsuit and created a website, Lawsuit Info, detailing all that transpired between him and Lively with supporting documents (might we add, Gossip Girl would have been so proud). 

Lively seems to be on a mission to revive her tarnished reputation by embarking on several PR stunts, one of which is a recent one involving a donut shop. 

Earlier this week, the Another Simple Favor actress visited Rise Doughnuts in Wilton and helped the owner, who is reportedly a friend of hers, in preparing the sweet treats. The actress posted the videos in her social media accounts with the caption, “Backing with genius food friends and their kitchen mixer the size of a car. This is what my happy place looks like…” 

However, the Wilton Health Department received multiple complaints about Blake Lively not wearing a hairnet while “working” at the donut shop. The department conducted an investigation into these claims but ultimately cleared the shop of any health code violations, as reported by TMZ. According to the official report, the investigation found no violations, and the case was officially closed. 

Nevertheless, Rise Doughnuts was not left unscathed, as its Yelp page was flooded with negative reviews following Lively’s stunt. In response to the onslaught, the shop’s Yelp page was temporarily disabled, prompting Yelp to conduct an investigation to determine whether the reviews were based on legitimate consumer experiences or influenced by “recent events,” referring to Lively’s controversies. 

A source close to the actress told TMZ, “The so-called complaints are from people who have never been there and who don’t even live in Connecticut. Targeting a lovely, small, family-owned business is a new low in the retaliation campaign.” 

Lively is on the receiving end of yet another backlash this week after admitting she improvised a scene in which she grabbed co-star Henry Golding’s groin during the filming of A Simple Favor. Social media users have been calling her a “hypocrite,” despite Page Six reporting that the “risqué scene was planned in advance.”