The furor around Blake Lively is likely reaching a fever pitch because of the time of year it is happening, according to one publicist.

The A Simple Favor actress has been in the headlines and a trending subject on social media platforms for most of August.

She has faced criticism from pundits and people online for a number of alleged actions, including perceived rudeness during interviews, using transphobic slurs and promoting her businesses during the press tour for her latest movie It Ends With Us, a film that tackles the serious subject matter of domestic violence. There were also reports of tension between Lively and It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni, with some alleging friction over creative control.

While Lively has not responded publicly to the backlash, whether many of the hearsay allegation are true or not does not matter as the timing of it all has been amplified because it is August.

“When people starting rooting for a celebrity’s downfall, it’s a clear indication the PR crisis is in full swing,” Molly McPherson, an industry leader in crisis public relations management, said in a video posted to TikTok.

Newsweek contacted Lively’s representatives by email for comment.

McPherson spoke about why it has been such a bad month for Lively and, by association, husband Ryan Reynolds, when they should be celebrating their recent box office successes. Reynolds’ Deadpool and Wolverine has just sailed past $1 billion at the global box office and will soon become the highest-grossing R-rated film in history, per Variety.

Instead of reveling in their career wins, they “have to go into hiding and unless they want to pull out some PR moves,” McPherson said.

“One of the reasons why August is an uneven time for the news industry and the news cycle is simply because of coverage, editorial teams, writers, reporters, they go on vacation along with their readers and their viewers,” McPherson explained, suggesting there was not much happening in the news cycle for that reason.

However, because “people are always on their phones” and they’re still “clamoring for information,” despite the slow news cycle, they do so by tapping into social media where much of the backlash against Lively has been generated.

“In the case of the Blake Lively story and Ryan Reynolds, they have summer movies coming out. So they wanted to generate as much publicity as possible, and in August, there wasn’t a lot of competition,” McPherson said, adding that even in an election year, unless “something big happens” in politics there is nothing “consuming the news.”

“No, ‘backlash’ is something that can happen to a reputation and if it happens in August, it becomes a cycle,” she said.

McPherson described it as a perfect storm for a story to gain traction and compared it to the experience of backlash singer Lizzo faced in August 2023 after she was sued by some of her dancers, but her “PR crisis started to dim in late August,” as more major stories started to hit the news.

However, one culture expert did not agree with McPherson’s analysis, arguing there was plenty happening in the world right now that needed people’s attention more than a celebrity feud.

“August 2024 is not a slow news month, it’s more that the news right now feels apocalyptic—the American election, atrocity in Gaza, armed conflicts in too many countries to comprehend and so on. The stakes are high,” Hannah Yelin, a media and culture academic at Oxford Brookes University in the U.K., told Newsweek.

“But a celebrity PR car crash is a comfortingly low stakes thing to get exercised about by comparison.”

McPherson said in her TikTok that Lively’s next move was possibly going to be recruiting influential “third parties” or “strategic friends” to come to her aid, such as the actress’ good friend, Taylor Swift.

“If you’re talking about someone who gets positive SEO all the time, and it is the end of August with NFL training [camp],” McPherson said of the media interest surrounding Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce, a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs.

“The timing could be there and the timing could be just right for a Hail Mary pass [for Lively],” McPherson concluded.

Cara Leopardo, founder and CEO of We The Studios, a “non-woke streaming platform,” said August was “absolutely” a slow news month, but regardless of whether Lively deserves the criticism, it has people talking about her and her new movie.

“The growing scrutiny of celebrity behavior and statements on social media can amplify any missteps, however, many still believe in no such thing as bad press,” she told Newsweek. “The movie seems like a flop to me so perhaps this is all a PR stunt, hats off to you all as you got us talking.”

Yelin added that the “pile on” happening to Lively who has become a “bad object” in the public’s opinion, “creates permission for people to pile in with more criticism.”

“Joining in with criticism of collectively designated ‘bad objects’ offers the comfort of belonging to the group and the feeling of superiority that comes with the power to judge. It’s community forming and hierarchy asserting,” she said. “Within the enthusiastic critique of Lively our cultural misogyny is showing.”